Caregiver and staff information system

ABSTRACT

A mobile caregiver application is stored on mobile devices of caregivers for managing alert messages generated by a variety of equipment in a healthcare information system. The mobile caregiver application allows secure voice, text, and, optionally, video communication between caregivers using their mobile devices.

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/143,971, filed Sep. 27, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,957,445, whichclaims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/568,671, filed Oct. 5, 2017, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/660,576, filed Apr. 20, 2018, each of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to healthcare information systems andparticularly, to caregiver and staff information systems. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to a system that providesinformation to wireless handheld devices of caregivers and staffrelating to alerts originating from patients in a healthcare facilityand that permit secure communications between groups of caregivers,staff, and patients.

Caregivers, such as nurses and other clinicians, are typically assignedto multiple patients during their shifts. Various alerts or nurse callsgenerated by patients are communicated to the caregivers who mustprioritize and manage their responses to the incoming alerts. Sometimesan alert is escalated to a secondary caregiver if the alert is notresponded to within a threshold amount of time. Alerts and calls may becategorized as normal calls or high priority calls. Other staff memberssuch as those in housekeeping, food service, and patient transporting,also respond to various alerts and calls originating from multiplepatients. The terms “caregiver” and “staff” are used interchangeablyherein.

Healthcare facilities sometimes provide to caregivers and staff duringtheir shifts wireless communication devices, such as pagers or telephonehandsets that have screens that show incoming patient calls and alerts.At the end of their shifts, the caregivers and staff may return thesewireless communication devices back to the healthcare facility such asfor recharging or for use by other caregivers and staff on subsequentshifts. Thus, these prior art wireless communication devices arededicated devices used mostly for limited types of communicationsrelating to patient healthcare.

In more recent times, it is common for caregivers and staff to bringtheir own smart phones to work. Caregivers and staff may call each otheror text each other using their own smart phones while at work forpurposes of coordinating patient care. Of course, the smart phones havetheir regular, unrestricted communications capability as well such thatcalls and texts can be transmitted by caregivers and staff via publicinfrastructure to their friends and family, for example. This raisesvarious concerns regarding patient privacy and confidentiality. What isneeded is an application that can be downloaded to the personal smartphones of caregivers and staff, that has functionality for managingcalls and alerts within the healthcare facility, and that has securecommunications capability between caregivers and staff in a healthcarefacility.

SUMMARY

An apparatus, system, method, or computer-storage medium may compriseone or more of the features recited in the appended claims and/or thefollowing features which, alone or in any combination, may comprisepatentable subject matter:

A machine readable medium for managing patient calls and alerts at ahealthcare facility may be provided. The machine readable medium may benon-transitory and may comprise a plurality of instructions that, inresponse to being executed, may result in a mobile device of a caregiverreceiving at the mobile device multiple alerts that may relate tomultiple patients that may be assigned to the caregiver; displaying on adisplay screen of the mobile device a first list of accepted alerts thatthe caregiver may have accepted and that may not have been escalated toanother caregiver; and displaying on the display screen of the mobiledevice a second list of escalated alerts that may have been escalated tothe caregiver from another caregiver.

In some embodiments, the accepted alerts and the escalated alerts may bedisplayed simultaneously on the display screen of the mobile device.Optionally, displaying the first list of accepted alerts may includedisplaying whether each accepted alert is either a high priority alertor a normal priority alert. Alternatively or additionally, displayingthe first list of accepted alerts may include displaying for eachaccepted alert a name of a patient and a room location of the patientfrom which the alert may have originated. Further optionally, displayingthe first list of accepted alerts may include displaying for eachaccepted alert an amount of time that may have elapsed since therespective accepted alert may have been originated.

In some embodiments, displaying the second list of escalated alerts mayinclude displaying whether each escalated alert is either a highpriority alert or a normal priority alert. Optionally, displaying thesecond list of escalated alerts may include displaying for eachescalated alert a name of a patient and a room location of the patientfrom which the alert may have originated. Alternatively or additionally,displaying the second list of escalated alerts may include displayingfor each escalated alert an amount of time that may have elapsed sincethe respective escalated alert may have been originated.

If desired, displaying each of the accepted alerts and the escalatedalerts may include displaying a type of each of the accepted alerts andescalated alerts. For example, the types of accepted and escalatedalerts may include one or more of the following: Fall, Bathroom, RoomService or Juice.

In some embodiments, the machine readable medium may be configured toresult in displaying a name of the caregiver of the mobile device and alocation of the caregiver. A first icon indicating the caregiver'savailability status for accepting more alerts may be displayed.Optionally, a second icon that may be selectable by the caregiver tochange the availability status may also be displayed. In response toselection of the second icon by the caregiver, a menu of availabilitystatus choices may be displayed. For example, the availability statuschoices may include two or more of the following: All, Available, Busy,or Unavailable. It is contemplated by this disclosure that the displayscreen of the mobile device may display an accept icon that may beselectable by the caregiver to accept another escalated alert fromanother caregiver.

In some embodiments, a menu bar including selectable icons that mayinclude a Patients icon, a Staff icon, a first Messages icon, and a Meicon may be displayed. In response to selection of the Patients icon bythe caregiver, a list of patients that may be assigned to the caregivermay be displayed. Displaying the list of patients that may be assignedto the caregiver may include displaying a name of each assigned patientand a room location of each assigned patient. In response to selectionof the Staff icon by the caregiver, a default staff screen that may showa list of staff members that are assigned to a same unit as thecaregiver may be displayed.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a Unit icon maybe displayed on the default staff screen. The Unit icon may beselectable by the caregiver to display a list of staff members that maybe assigned to other units. Alternatively or additionally, a Filter iconmay be displayed on the default staff screen. The Filter icon may beselectable by the caregiver to display a list of staff roles that may beselectable by the caregiver. If desired, a list of staff members thatmay have the one or more selected staff roles may also be displayed.Examples of the staff roles on the list may include one or more of thefollowing: All, ANEST, Clergy, CMA, CN, CNA, HN, HUC, LPN, MD, MGR, NA,None, QB Tech, PCA, RN, Vol, Unit Sec, or CRNA.

In some embodiments, in response to selection of the Filter icon, anavailability menu may be provided and may be usable by the caregiver tofilter staff members for display based on an availability status of thestaff members. A My Team icon that may be selectable by the caregiver todisplay a list of staff members that are on a same team as the caregivermay be displayed on the default staff screen.

In response to selection of the first Messages icon by the caregiver, amessages menu including a Device icon, a Video icon, a second Messagesicon, and a Mobile icon may be displayed. In response to selection ofthe Video icon, the caregiver may be provided with the ability toestablish a secure video communications link with another caregiver. Forexample, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) stack may be implemented inconnection with the video communications link. In response to selectionof the second Messages icon, the caregiver may be provided with theability to send a secure text message to another caregiver. For example,a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) stack may be implemented inconnection with sending secure text messages. In response to selectionof the Mobile icon, the caregiver may be provided with the ability toplace a telephone call.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions, in response to beingexecuted, may result in the mobile device of the caregiver determiningat the mobile device received signal strength indicators (RSSI's) forcommunications from a plurality of other mobile devices of othercaregivers and may display a rank ordered list of the other caregiverson the mobile device of the caregiver based on the RSSI's. For example,the rank ordered list may be displayed so as to list the othercaregivers from closest to farthest in distance from the mobile devicebased on the received signal strengths.

Optionally, the plurality of instructions, in response to beingexecuted, may result in the mobile device of the caregiver displaying onthe display screen of the mobile device a first selectable icon that, inresponse to being selected, may result in the caregiver's availabilitystatus being set to an automatic mode in which the caregiver'savailability may be changed automatically as the caregiver movesthroughout the healthcare facility. Alternatively or additionally, theplurality of instructions, in response to being executed, may result inthe mobile device of the caregiver displaying on the display screen ofthe mobile device a second selectable icon that, in response to beingselected, may result in the caregiver's availability being set to a donot disturb mode in which the caregiver is unavailable. The mobiledevice may be configured to not receive alerts when the caregiver'savailability is set to the do not disturb mode.

In some embodiments, a Busy screen may be displayed on the mobile deviceand the caregiver's availability may be set to busy in response to thecaregiver entering a patient room. If desired, the Busy screen mayinclude a selectable icon that, in response to being selected, mayresult in the caregiver's availability being set to a do not disturbmode in which the caregiver may be unavailable. In some embodiments, anAvailable screen may be displayed on the mobile device and thecaregiver's availability may be set to available in response to thecaregiver being located in a common area of the healthcare facilityoutside of patient rooms. Optionally, the Available screen may include aselectable icon that, in response to being selected, may result in thecaregiver's availability being set to a do not disturb mode in which thecaregiver is unavailable.

It is contemplated by this disclosure that the plurality ofinstructions, in response to being executed, may result in the mobiledevice of the caregiver displaying on the display screen of the mobiledevice a first selectable icon that, in response to being selected, mayresult in the caregiver's availability being set to a do not disturbmode in which the caregiver is unavailable. The mobile device may beconfigured to not receive alerts when the caregiver's availability isset to the do not disturb mode. The do not disturb mode may last for athreshold period of time and then automatically may expire after thethreshold period of time unless action is taken to terminate the do notdisturb mode early or extend the do not disturb mode for additionaltime.

If desired, the plurality of instructions, in response to beingexecuted, may result in the mobile device of the caregiver displaying agraphical end icon that, in response to being selected, may terminatethe do not disturb mode and may set the caregiver's availability toavailable. Alternatively or additionally, the plurality of instructions,in response to being executed, may result in the mobile device of thecaregiver displaying a graphical add time icon that, in response tobeing selected, may add a predetermined amount of time to the thresholdperiod of time to establish a new threshold period of time. For example,the predetermined amount of time may be five minutes.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system mayinclude a plurality of mobile devices that may be carried by caregivers,at least one server for sending alert messages to the plurality ofmobile devices; and at least one patient device in a patient room. Theat least one patient device may be configured to generate a first alertmessage of the alert messages in response to an interaction with apatient in the patient room. The system may also have a processorlocated at the patient room. The processor may receive the first alertmessage and may determine a message priority designation from a firstpriority designation or a second priority designation. The processor mayforward the alert message along with the message priority designationfor receipt by the server which then may forward the alert message andthe priority designation to at least one mobile device of a caregiverassigned to the patient. The plurality of mobile devices may beconfigured to permit the caregivers to accept responsibility forresponding to respective alert messages or to re-route respective alertmessages to one or more other caregivers.

In some embodiments, the system further may include an audio stationthat may be located in the patient room and that may be coupled to theprocessor. Each mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices may beconfigured to display an icon for each respective alert message that maybe selectable by the respective caregiver to open up a communicationschannel with the audio station so that the caregiver can speak with thepatient.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a system mayinclude a plurality of mobile devices that may be carried by caregivers,at least one server for sending alert messages to the plurality ofmobile devices, and a plurality of patient devices in a patient room.The plurality of patient devices may be configured to generate the alertmessages in response to interactions with a patient in the patient room.The plurality of patient devices may include a patient bed, a pillowspeaker unit, and a patient tablet, for example.

In some embodiments, the system may further include a processor locatedat the patient room. The processor may receive the alert messages andmay determine for each alert message a message priority designation froma first priority designation or a second priority designation. Theprocessor may forward each alert message along with its respectivemessage priority designation for receipt by the server which then mayforward the respective alert message and the respective prioritydesignation to at least one mobile device of a caregiver assigned to thepatient. If desired, the plurality of mobile devices may be configuredto permit the caregivers to accept responsibility for responding torespective alert messages or to re-route respective alert messages toother caregivers.

In some embodiments, the system may further include a desktop computerthat may have a display on which a Past Conversation screen may bedisplayed. The Past Conversation screen may be usable to view a pasttext message conversation between other caregivers about a selectedpatient. Optionally, the Past Conversation screen also may display acurrent availability status of each of the caregivers involved in thepast text message conversation.

In some embodiments, the system may further include a desktop computerthat may have a display on which a Create Conversation screen isdisplayed. The Create Conversation screen may be usable to start a textmessage conversation between a user of the desktop computer and one ormore other caregivers about a selected patient. The Create Conversationscreen may permit selection of the patient about which the text messageconversation pertains by using a first drop down menu that may list allpatients admitted in a unit or by using a second drop down menu that mayappear on the Create Conversation screen in response typing a portion ofa patient name. Alternatively or additionally, the Create Conversationscreen may permit selection of the one or more other caregivers toparticipate in the text message conversation by using a first drop downmenu that may list all caregivers on duty in a unit or by using a seconddrop down menu that may appear on the Create Conversation screen inresponse typing a portion of a caregiver name. If desired, the CreateConversation screen may include an icon that may be selectable todesignate all caregivers on duty in the unit as participants in the textmessage conversation. Optionally, the Create Conversation screen maydisplay an availability status of each of the caregivers involved in thetext message conversation.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system mayinclude a plurality of mobile devices that may be carried by caregivers,a messaging server for sending alert messages to the plurality of mobiledevices, and a first nurse call server in communication with a firstplurality of patient devices in a first patient room. The firstplurality of patient devices may be configured to generate first alertmessages in response to interactions with a first patient in the firstpatient room. The first alert messages may be communicated in a firstformat according to a first protocol to the messaging server which, inturn, may provide first notifications to one or more mobile devices ofthe plurality of mobile devices. The system also may include a secondnurse call server in communication with a second plurality of patientdevices in a second patient room. The second plurality of patientdevices may be configured to generate second alert messages in responseto interactions with a second patient in the second patient room. Thesystem further may include a configuration server in communication withthe second nurse call server. The second alert messages may becommunicated in a second format according to a second protocol,different than the first format and first protocol, respectively, to themessaging server which, in turn, may convert the second alert messagesinto third alert messages having the first format according to the firstprotocol. The third alert messages may be communicated to the messagingserver which, in turn, may provide second notifications to one or moremobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices.

In some embodiments, the system may further include a Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) server and a private branch exchange (PBX) voice bridge.Voice communications from the plurality of mobile phones may becommunicated to the first nurse call server via the SIP server withoutinvolving the PBX voice bridge, and voice communications from theplurality of mobile phones may be communicated to the second nurse callserver via the SIP server and the PBX voice bridge. Alternatively oradditionally, the system may further include a publish/subscribe serverthat may manage which mobile phones of the plurality of mobile phonesare to receive each alert message of the first and third alert messages.The first alert messages from the first nurse call server and the thirdalert messages from the configuration server may be provided to thepublish/subscribe server as inputs and the publish/subscribe server maysend outputs to the messaging server.

It is contemplated by this disclosure that the first plurality ofpatient devices may include a first patient bed, a first pillow speakerunit, and a first patient tablet. Alternatively or additionally, thesecond plurality of patient devices may include a second patient bed, asecond pillow speaker unit, and a second patient tablet. At least onemobile device of the plurality of mobile devices may stores and mayexecute a machine readable medium having any one or more of the featuresor functions discussed above and discussed elsewhere herein.

Additional features, which alone or in combination with any otherfeature(s), such as those listed above and those listed in the claims,may comprise patentable subject matter and will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of various embodiments exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the embodiments as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figuresin which:

FIG. 1 is block diagram of a caregiver and staff information systemshowing a number of caregiver and staff phones that operate a caregiverand staff communication software application for use in monitoringpatient calls and alerts originating from assigned patients and varioushospital equipment including patient beds, patient tablets, callswitches, and pillow speaker units;

FIG. 2 is a screen shot of a Staff Detail screen showing a list ofaccepted alerts and escalated alerts of an individual caregiver, theStaff Detail screen being shown in response to a Me icon being selectedon a main menu at a bottom of the screen;

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of a Staff Detail screen showing a list of staffassigned to nursing unit four (NU4) with green and red circlesindicating the availability status for each listed caregiver, the StaffDetail screen being shown in response to a Staff icon being selected onthe main menu at the bottom of the screen;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a first Filter screen having an Availabilityfilter expanded to show availability filter options that can be selectedby the caregiver;

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of a second Filter screen having a Staff Titlefilter expanded to show staff title filter options that can be selectedby the caregiver;

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a My Team screen showing a list of staffassigned to the same team as the caregiver;

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of a Staff Detail screen that results inresponse to a staff member being selected on the My Team screen, theStaff Detail screen showing a list of patients assigned to the selectedstaff member and a set of communication icons that are selectable tocommunicate with the selected staff member via different communicationmethods;

FIG. 8 is a screen shot of an Alert History screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a Me icon, theAlert History screen showing a list of open alerts and a list ofaccepted alerts for the caregiver;

FIG. 9 is a screen shot of a My Unit screen showing a list of staffassigned to the same unit as the caregiver;

FIG. 10 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 7, of an alternative StaffDetail screen that results in response to a staff member being selectedon the My Unit screen of FIG. 9, the alternative Staff Detail screenshowing a list of patients assigned to the selected staff member and aset of communication icons that are selectable to communicate with theselected staff member via different communication methods;

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of a Call screen that results when a Deviceicon is selected on the alternative Staff Detail screen of FIG. 10 tocall the mobile device of the selected staff member;

FIG. 12 is a screen shot of a My Patients List screen showing a list ofpatients assigned to the caregiver, the My Patients List screen beingshown in response to a Patients icon being selected on the main menu atthe bottom of the screen;

FIG. 13 is a screen shot of a Patient Details screen showing a list ofcaregivers assigned to a patient selected on the My Patients List screenof FIG. 12 and showing a Room icon that can be selected to call the roomin which the patient is assigned;

FIG. 14 is a screen shot of a Call screen that results when the Deviceicon of FIG. 13 is selected to call the patient's room;

FIG. 15 is a screen shot of a Home screen of the caregiver's mobiledevice showing an icon or tile in the in the lower right corner, butabove the main menu bar at the bottom of the screen, to indicate thatthe caregiver and staff communication software application has beendownloaded (or uploaded) to the caregiver's mobile device and showing anincoming alert message at the top of the screen;

FIG. 16 is a screen shot of a Call Details screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to the incoming alert message ofFIG. 15 being selected by the caregiver, the Call Details screenincluding buttons or icons that are selectable by the caregiver toaccept responsibility for responding to the alert message, to acceptresponsibility for responding to the alert message and to place a callto the room of the patient from which the alert message originated, orto escalate the alert message to another caregiver;

FIG. 17 is a screen shot of a Patient Detail screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to a patient name being selectedon the Staff Detail screen of FIG. 7, the Patient Detail screenincluding an upper section having information indicating the patient'slocation, date of birth, sex, and medical risks, and having a set oficons including one that permits the caregiver to call into thepatient's room and the Patient Detail screen having a bottom sectionincluding icons for selecting a Care Team list, patient notes, and callhistory;

FIG. 18 is a screen shot of a Set States screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to a Set States icon beingselected on the Patient Detail screen of FIG. 17, the Set States screenincluding a menu having selections for Out of Room, Falls Risk, NPO, NoLatex, Sleeping, and Procedure in Progress;

FIG. 19 is screen shot of a Staff Member Detail screen that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a staffmember's name on any screen having a list of staff members such as thescreens of FIGS. 3, 6 and 9, the Staff Member Detail screen having alist of active calls for the selected staff member;

FIG. 20 is screen shot of a Favorites screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to a Favorites icon being selectedon the Staff Member Detail screen of FIG. 19, the Favorites screenincluding a list of favorite contacts for the selected caregiver;

FIG. 21 is a screen shot of an Add Favorites screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to an Add icon being selected onthe Favorites screen of FIG. 20, the Add Favorites screen including awindow for selecting whether a favorite is to be added by typing a phonenumber or by picking a staff or location;

FIG. 22 is a screen shot of a New Favorites screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to a Type a Phone Number iconbeing selected on the Add Favorites screen of FIG. 21, the New Favoritesscreen including fields for typing a Name and Phone Number of the staffmember to be added as a new favorite;

FIG. 23 is a screen shot of a first Change Availability screen thatappears on the caregiver's mobile device in response to selection of adown arrow icon that appears on the screens of FIGS. 2 and 8, the firstChange Availability screen permits the caregiver to select a Do NotDisturb time interval during which no new incoming alerts will bereceived and during which the caregiver will be designated asunavailable, the Change availability screen also having a Sign Out iconthat is selected by the caregiver to sign out at the end of their shift;

FIG. 24 is a screen shot of a second Change Availability screen thatappears on the caregiver's mobile device in response to selection of aChange icon that appears on the screens of FIGS. 19 and 20 if a Do NotDisturb time interval has been previously set, the second ChangeAvailability screen permits the caregiver to end the Do Not Disturb timeinterval and also has the Sign Out icon that is selected by thecaregiver to sign out at the end of their shift;

FIG. 25 is a screen shot of a Messages screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a Messages icon ofthe main menu shown at the bottom of the mobile device, the Messagescreen having a list of message strings in which the caregiver has beeninvolved in the past;

FIG. 26 is a screen shot of a New Message screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to a New Message icon beingselected on the Messages screen of FIG. 25, the New Message screenhaving a “Tap here to search your unit” icon in the To field and havingplus sign (“+”) icons in the To filed and the About field;

FIG. 27 is a screen shot of a first Search Results screen that appearson the caregiver's mobile device after selection of the plus sign (“+”)icon in the To field of FIG. 26 and after the search string “Arm” hasbeen entered into the search string as search criteria, the first SearchResults screen listing two caregivers that met the search criteria andhaving a keyboard at the bottom of the screen for typing a message;

FIG. 28 is a screen shot of a My Team screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to selection of the “Tap here tosearch your unit” icon on the screen of FIG. 26, the My Team screenhaving a list of the caregiver's team members to whom messages can besent and having a My Unit icon which can be selected to display a listof staff members in the caregiver's unit rather than the team members;

FIG. 29 is a screen shot of a second Search Results screen that appearson the caregiver's mobile device after selection of the plus sign (“+”)icon in the About field of FIG. 26 and after the search string “Mon” hasbeen entered into About field as search criteria, the second SearchResults screen listing one patient that met the search criteria andhaving a keyboard at the bottom of the screen for typing a message;

FIG. 30 is a screen shot of a My Patients screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a plus sign (“+”)icon on the screen of FIG. 29 in the About field, the My Patients screenhaving a list of the patients assigned to the caregiver to whom messagescan be sent and having a My Unit icon which can be selected to display alist of patients in the caregiver's unit rather than just thecaregiver's assigned patients;

FIG. 31 is a screen shot of a Sent Message screen showing an example ofa message that has been sent by the caregiver using their mobile device;

FIG. 32 is a screen shot of a Message String screen showing examples ofa message string between the caregiver and two other caregivers;

FIG. 33 is a screen shot of a Conversation Details screen that appearson the caregiver's mobile device in response to an information (“i”)icon being selected on the screen of FIG. 32 showing a list ofparticipants to the message string of FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 17, of a Care Team screen thatappears on a caregiver's phone who does not have administrative rightsto set states for the respective patient, the Care Team screen includingan upper section having information indicating the patient's location,date of birth, sex, and medical risks, and having a Call Room icon thatpermits the caregiver to call into the patient's room and the Care Teamscreen having a bottom section including a Care Team list and icons formessaging or calling members of the listed care team;

FIG. 35 is a Patient Notes screen that appears on the caregiver's mobiledevice in response to selection of a Pt. Notes icon on the screen ofFIG. 34, the Patient Notes screen having caregiver's notes about thepatient in the bottom section;

FIG. 36 is a History screen that appears on the caregiver's mobiledevice in response to selection of a History icon on the screen of FIG.34 or FIG. 35, the History screen having a history of the patient'snurse calls in the bottom section, including nurse calls that are stillopen;

FIG. 37 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 9, of an alternative My Unitscreen showing a list of staff assigned to the same unit as thecaregiver;

FIG. 38 is a screen shot of an Other Units screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to selection of an Other Unitsicon on the screen of FIG. 37, the Other Units screen having a list ofother units of first and second hospital campuses;

FIG. 39 is a screen shot of a Non-Home Results screen that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a unit from ahospital campus different than the caregiver's campus on the Other Unitsscreen of FIG. 38;

FIG. 40 is a screen shot of a Tapped Search screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a “Tap to search”icon at the top of the screens of FIG. 37 or FIG. 39, the Tapped Searchscreen having a list of different types of staff searches that can beundertaken by the caregiver;

FIG. 41 is a screen shot of a first Search Results page that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device in response to a search string “Carol”being entered in a “What are you looking for?” field at the top of theTapped Search screen of FIG. 40;

FIG. 42 is a screen shot of a second Search Results page that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device in response to a search string “Onc” beingentered in the “What are you looking for?” field at the top of theTapped Search screen of FIG. 40;

FIG. 43 is a screen shot of a third Search Results page that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device in response to a search string “4” beingentered in the “What are you looking for?” field at the top of theTapped Search screen of FIG. 40;

FIG. 44 is a screen shot of a fourth Search Results page that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device in response to a search string “XYZ” beingentered in the “What are you looking for?” field at the top of theTapped Search screen of FIG. 40;

FIG. 45 is a screen shot of a Dial Pad screen that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a Mobile icon,shown in FIG. 7, or a phone icon such as those shown in FIGS. 13, 17,20, 34 and 43;

FIG. 46 is a screen shot of a Recent Phone Calls screen that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device in response to selection of a Recents iconon the Dial Pad screen of FIG. 45;

FIG. 47 is a block diagram showing a mobile device of a caregiver thathas received signal strength indication (RSSI) software to determine adistance between the caregiver and other caregivers labeled as Staff 1-5and showing a screen of the mobile device rank ordering the Staff 1-5based on relative location, closest to farthest, from the caregiver;

FIG. 48 is a screen shot of an Availability screen that a caregiver usesto select an Automatic availability function in which the caregiver'savailability status changes automatically as the caregiver moves about ahealthcare facility and to select a Do Not Disturb function in which thecaregiver ceases to receive alerts and is indicated as unavailable onother devices of the system;

FIG. 49 is a block diagram of a network architecture implementing anembodiment of a caregiver and staff information system in which ahealthcare facility has two different types of nurse call systems;

FIG. 50 is a screen shot of a first My Availability screen showing thata caregiver has three minutes remaining of a Do Not Disturb status andshowing a graphical End button that the caregiver selects to end the DoNot Disturb status and a graphical +5 min. button that the caregiverselects to extend the Do Not Disturb status by an additional fiveminutes;

FIG. 51 is a screen shot of a second My Availability screen showing thata caregiver has a status of Busy (in patient room) and showing agraphical Begin Do Not Disturb button that the caregiver selects tochange their status to Do Not Disturb;

FIG. 52 is a screen shot of a third My Availability screen showing thata caregiver has a status of Available and showing the graphical Begin DoNot Disturb button that the caregiver selects to change their status toDo Not Disturb;

FIG. 53 is a screen shot showing a Past Conversation screen displayed ona desktop display screen of a computer that is used to view a past textmessage conversation between other caregivers about a particular patientand showing, at the top of the text message conversation, the currentavailability status of the caregivers involved in the past text messageconversation;

FIG. 54 is a screen shot showing a Create Conversation screen displayedon a desktop display screen of a computer that is used to create a textmessage conversation with one or more other caregivers about aparticular patient and showing, at the top of the text messageconversation, a caregiver designated as a participant in the textmessage conversation;

FIG. 55 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 54, showing an example of adrop down menu of patient names and locations that appears on the CreateConversation screen in response to a portion of a room number beingtyped in an About text field near the top of the Create Conversationscreen;

FIG. 56 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 54, showing an example of adrop down menu of patient names and locations that appears on the CreateConversation screen in response to selection of a down arrow iconappearing on the right hand side of the About text field;

FIG. 57 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 54, showing an example of adrop down menu of caregiver names and availability status that appearson the Create Conversation screen in response to a portion of acaregiver name being typed in a Participant text field near the top ofthe Create Conversation screen;

FIG. 58 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 54, showing an example of adrop down menu of caregiver names and availability status that appearson the Create Conversation screen in response to selection of a stafficon appearing to the right of the Participants text field; and

FIG. 59 is a screen shot, similar to FIG. 54, showing a list of anentire care team of Participants appearing in the Participants textfield in response to an Add Care Team icon being selected on the CreateConversation screen after a patient name is added in the About textfield.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A caregiver and staff information system 50 has a number of mobiledevices 52, illustratively caregiver and staff phones, that each operatea caregiver and staff communication software application for use inmonitoring patient calls and alerts originating from assigned patientsand various hospital equipment located in a room of the patient,including patient beds 54, patient tablets 56, call switches 58, andhandheld pillow speaker units 60 as shown in FIG. 1. In the illustrativeexample, alerts may also originate from a smoke alarm 61, for example.The features and functions of the caregiver and staff communicationsoftware application of mobile devices 52 are discussed in detail belowin connection with FIGS. 2-46. The caregiver and staff communicationsoftware application is sometimes referred to herein as the mobilecaregiver application.

In contemplated embodiments, the mobile caregiver application isconfigured to allow caregivers in an acute care setting to use theirmobile phones 52 for monitoring alerts and calls from patients; forconducting voice, video, and text messaging between caregivers; and forpermitting voice communications to audio stations (e.g., standard audiostations 62 and/or graphical audio stations 64) mounted in patient roomsadjacent to respective patient beds 54. The mobile caregiver applicationis also configured to act as a secondary notification system thatsupplements the nurse call system portion of system 50.

In the illustrative example, beds 54 and pillow speaker units 60 arecoupled with appropriate cables, well known in the art, to respectiveaudio station bed connectors (ASBC's) 66 as shown diagrammatically inFIG. 1. In other embodiments, one or more network interface units(NIU's) or wireless interface units (WIU's) provide the connectivitybetween beds 54 and respective audio stations 62, 64 in lieu of ASBC's66. Further details of ASBC's and NIU's are shown and described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 7,538,659 and 7,319,386 and in U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication Nos. 2009/0217080 A1, 2009/0212925 A1 and 2009/0212926 A1,each of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.Further details of WIU's are shown and described in U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2007/0210917 A1 which is hereby expresslyincorporated by reference herein.

Each of audio stations 62, 64 includes a code blue call lever 63 whichis pulled by a caregiver in an emergency such as when a patient in theroom is having a heart attack. Call switches 58, smoke alarm 61, andaudio stations 62, 64 are each communicatively coupled to a respectiveinput/output (I/O) circuit board 68 as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1.Circuit boards 68 are sometimes referred to herein as I/O board or I/Ocircuitry. Each I/O board 68 includes a processor, such as amicroprocessor, microcontroller, etc., that receives various alerts andcalls, sometimes referred to herein as “alert messages,” from beds 54,pillow speaker units 60, smoke alarms 61, and audio stations 62, 64 inresponse to the code blue lever 63 being pulled. The processor of I/Ocircuitry 68 determines an alert message priority designation for eachof the incoming alert messages. For example, in the illustrativeembodiment, alert messages are designated as either Normal alertmessages or High Priority alert messages. However, in other embodiments,more than two alert message priority designations may be used.

The I/O board 68 and therefore, the processor of I/O board 68, islocated at the respective patient room. Thus, the alert message prioritydesignation is made at each patient room for the alert messages beingcommunicated to the I/O board 68. As such, a central server is notneeded for determining message priority for the messages received by I/Oboard 68. The I/O board 68 forwards each alert message and itsrespective priority designation to the remainder of system 50.

Each I/O board 68 is coupled to a respective dome light 70 which reallyincludes multiple lights that are illuminated to indicate room status.The illumination of the various lights of dome light 70 is controlled bythe I/O board 68 based on alert conditions occurring in the respectivepatient room and based on caregiver presence in, or absence from, therespective patient room. Dome lights 70 are mounted outside each of thepatient rooms, typically near a doorway to the respective room. In someembodiments, I/O boards 68 are situated in a housing to which the domelights 70 are mounted. Thus, the I/O boards 68 are located outside thepatient rooms adjacent the dome lights 70 in such embodiments. In otherembodiments, I/O boards 68 are located inside the patient rooms. Ineither case, the I/O boards are considered to be “at” the patient roomaccording to this disclosure.

In the illustrative example, a locating badge 72 is shown in wirelesscommunication with a remote locator receiver (RLR) 74 which, in turn, iscommunicatively coupled with the respective patient room in which theRLR 74 is located. It should be appreciated that system 50 includes amultitude of badges 72 that are worn by respective caregivers and amultitude of RLR's 74 located throughout the respective healthcarefacility, including being located in the various patient rooms. Inresponse to an RLR 74 detecting one or more badges 72 in any particularroom, a signal or message is communicated to the respective I/O board 68and the lighting of the associated dome light 70 is updated accordingly.In the illustrative example, badges 72 transmit infrared (IR) signals toRLR's 74 but alternative embodiments in which radio frequency (RF)transmissions, including ultra-wideband (UWB) transmissions, are made bybadges 72 and/or RLR's 74 are within the scope of this disclosure.

Still referring to the diagrammatic example of FIG. 1, each I/O board 68is communicatively coupled to a Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch 76which is, in turn, communicatively coupled to a primary staff console 78(sometimes referred to as a “master nurse station”), a secondary staffconsole 80, and a staff terminal 82. PoE switch 76 is communicativelycoupled to a voice over Internet protocol (VoW) Switch and Enterpriseserver 84 which is, in turn, coupled to a nurse call server 86 viaEthernet infrastructure, illustrated diagrammatically as network 90 inFIG. 1. It should be appreciated that devices 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68,70, 76, 78, 70, 82, 84, 86 are illustrative of a diagrammatic nurse callsystem portion of the overall system 50 and that nurse call systemarchitecture will vary from one healthcare facility to the next. Otherexamples of nurse call system architecture and the various types ofequipment included in various embodiments of a nurse call system (aswell as network 50, in general) can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos.7,746,218; 7,538,659; 7,319,386; 7,242,308; 6,897,780; 6,362,725;6,147,592; 5,838,223; 5,699,038 and 5,561,412 and in U.S. PatentApplication Publication Nos. 2009/0217080; 2009/0214009; 2009/0212956;and 2009/0212925, each of which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety for all that it teaches to the extent notinconsistent with the present disclosure which shall control as to anyinconsistencies.

In the illustrative example, patient tablets 56 are also included aspart of the nurse call system portion of overall system 50. Tablets 56are used by patients to send specific patient requests such as requestsfor pain medication, requests for bathroom assistance, food requests,drink requests, ice chips requests, requests for assistance withpersonal care, etc. For additional details of the functionality oftablets 56 see FIGS. 2-5 and the related discussion found in U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2016/0055299 which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety for all that it teaches to the extentnot inconsistent with the present disclosure which shall control as toany inconsistencies. In the illustrative example, tablets 56 communicatewirelessly with wireless access points (WAP's) 84 which, in turn,communicate with a patient tablet communications server 92. Server 92communicates the patient requests, which are also considered to be alertmessages according to this disclosure, to nurse call server 86 vianetwork infrastructure 90.

In connection with alert messages originating from beds 54, theseinclude alert messages relating to one or more of the following: bedexit of the patient from the respective bed 54, patient position on therespective bed 54 exceeding a threshold, patient movement on therespective bed 54 exceeding a threshold or falling below a threshold,siderail position (e.g., siderail down) of the respective bed 54,casters of the respective bed 54 not being braked, angle of a headsection of the respective bed 54 being below a threshold angle (e.g., 30degrees), an upper frame of the respective bed 54 not being in itslowest position relative to a base frame of the respective bed 54, a bedcomponent exceeding a threshold temperature, a mattress bladder of therespective bed 54 falling below a threshold pressure, a pneumatic systemerror or failure of the respective bed 54, an actuator error or failureof the respective bed 54, an overcurrent condition of a component of therespective bed 54, a power system error or failure of the respective bed54, and power is disconnected from the respective bed 54.

Still referring to FIG. 1, system 50 includes an electronic medicalrecords (EMR) server 94 and an admission/discharge/transfer (ADT) server96. System 50 includes various other servers 98 as well. Other servers98 includes, for example, a real time locating system (RTLS) server thatis communicatively coupled to receivers 74. In such embodiments,receivers 74 are not communicatively coupled to I/O boards 68. Thebadges 72, receivers 74, and RTLS server form a real time locatingsystem portion of overall system 50. Staff locating information iscommunicated from the RTLS server 98 to nurse call server 86 via network90 in such embodiments.

In some embodiments, another of the other servers 98 is a server thatmanages the routing of alert messages and related staff information tothe various mobile devices 52. In general, alert messages relating toparticular patients or particular rooms assigned to particularcaregivers are sent to the mobile device 52 of that particularcaregiver. The alert messages may originate from beds 54, pillow speakerunits 60, and patient tablets 56 in the illustrative example. However,it is contemplated by this disclosure that alert messages originatingfrom other types of equipment may be communicated to the mobile devices52 of assigned caregivers as well.

In some embodiments, the mobile caregiver application is available toeach caregiver from an Application (“App”) Store 99 which is accessiblevia the Internet as indicated by the dashed double headed arrow inFIG. 1. In other embodiments, the mobile caregiver application isprovided to caregivers internally by a systems administrator of system50. Thus, in some embodiments the mobile caregiver application is storedin one or more of servers 86, 92, 94, 96, 98 and is uploaded to themobile devices 52 of caregivers or downloaded by the caregivers to theirrespective mobile devices 52.

The features and functions of the mobile caregiver application aredescribed below in connection with FIGS. 2-46 which comprise screenshots that appear on the user interface screens or display screens ofmobile devices 52. By seeing the functionality represented in each ofthe screen shots and by considering the following description of thescreen shots of FIGS. 2-46, those skilled in the art will be enabled tomake and use the mobile caregiver application, and its variantembodiments, contemplated herein. It should be appreciated that thescreen shots of this disclosure are exemplary in nature and are providedto give a general sense of the type of information that may appear onthe display screen of any given mobile device 52 during use of thecontemplated mobile caregiver application. Thus, the screen shots aremerely individual examples from a practically unlimited number ofpossibilities. That is, the information such as alert messages, staffnames, staff locations, room name formats, unit names, etc. is dynamicand varies from healthcare facility to healthcare facility and, in fact,varies in any given healthcare facility throughout any given day inresponse to the various incoming alert messages, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a Staff Detail screen 100 includes a list ofaccepted alerts 102 and escalated alerts 104 of an individual caregiver.A main menu 106 is provided at the bottom of screen 100 and includes aPatients icon 108, a Staff icon 110, a Messages icon 112, and a Me icon114. The Staff Detail screen 100 is shown on the respective mobiledevice 52 in response to the Me icon 114 being selected on the main menu106. Icons are sometimes referred to as buttons herein. Thus, theseterms are used interchangeably. Icons or buttons are considered to beselected or selectable, herein, in that a user touches or taps the iconon the display screen of the respective mobile device 52 to navigate toadditional functionality of the mobile caregiver application associatedwith the respective icon or button.

In the upper section of screen 100 of FIG. 2, the caregiver's name,location and employee identification (ID) number is shown. In theillustrative example, the employee's name is Dave Brubeck who is locatedin room 2156 and is available for answering voice calls, phone messages,and alerts. A circle 115 is provided to the right of the text “Availablein 2156” which appears in a text box. The circle 115 is color codedgreen if the caregiver is available and is color coded red if thecaregiver is not available. The accepted alerts 102 of illustrativescreen 100 includes a Fall alert, a Bathroom alert, and a Room Servicealert. The Fall alert is designated as a High Priority alert and wasgenerated three minutes ago in room 2156A by a patient named CharlieHunter. The Bathroom alert is designated as a Normal Priority alert andwas generated twelve minutes ago in room 2162 by a patient named HenryRollins. The Room Service alert is designated as a Normal Priority alertand was generated two hours ago in room 2160A. No patient is assigned toroom 2160A in the given example.

The Fall alert of the accepted alerts 102 is based on bed statusinformation from the bed 54 in room 2156A assigned to Charlie Hunter.For example, a Falls Protocol, when enabled, may require that a patientremain in the bed 54 as monitored by a bed exit/patient positionmonitoring system of the bed 54, that certain siderails of the bed 54 bein their raised positions, that the casters of bed 54 be braked, andthat the upper frame of the bed 54 be in its lowest position relative tothe base frame of the bed 54. If any of those Falls Protocol conditionsare violated as detected by nurse call server 86, then a Fall alert isconsidered to exist and an appropriate message is sent via theappropriate portions of system 50 (network 90 and server 84 in theillustrative example) to the mobile device 52 of the caregiver assignedto the patient of the particular bed 54. In the illustrative embodiment,the Fall alert does not specify which particular bed condition of theFalls Protocol is violated. In other embodiments, the particular bedcondition may be specified on screen 100 such as indicating sideraildown, patient exiting the bed, or brake not set, for example, in lieu ofor in addition to the text Fall.

The Bathroom alert of the accepted alerts 102 is based on an input fromthe patient in room 2162 using the respective patient tablet 56. TheRoom Service alert of the accepted alerts 102 is generated by anotherstaff member in some embodiments. For example, a staff member may usetheir mobile device 52 to generate the Room Service alert or may use theroom station 64 in the room to be serviced which is room 2160A in thegiven example. In other embodiments, the ADT system of which server 96is a part may generate the Room Service alert in response to the patientpreviously assigned to the room being discharged from the healthcarefacility. Thus, this disclosure contemplates that alert messages mayalso be generated by other staff members and other portions of system50.

The Juice alert of the escalated alerts 104 is based on an input fromthe patient in room 2156A using the respective patient tablet 56.However, the primary caregiver, who is a caregiver other than DaveBrubeck in the given example, was not able to respond to this particularalert message and so the alert was escalated from that other caregiverto Dave Brubeck for possible response. Dave Brubeck is sometimesreferred to as a secondary caregiver in this scenario. The secondarycaregiver is the caregiver designated for escalation of any alerts towhich a primary caregiver is unable to respond. It is contemplated bythis disclosure that escalation of alerts may occur in various ways suchas after a preset period of time has elapsed without acceptance by theprimary caregiver and/or if the primary caregiver has a status ofunavailable and/or if the primary caregiver uses their mobile device 52to manually escalate an alert to a secondary caregiver. A “swipe left toaccept” icon 116 is provided on screen 100 and is used by the caregiverto accept any incoming escalated alerts by swiping left on the icon 116or by swiping left on the escalated alert information. In theillustrative example, another alert is originating from room 2162 ofpatient Henry Rollins and can be accepted by the caregiver by selectingthe Accept button 118.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a Staff Detail screen 120 has a list 122 ofstaff assigned to nursing unit four (NU4) in the given example becauseNU4 is the unit to which caregiver Dave Brubeck is assigned. Screen 120is shown on the respective mobile device 52 in response to the Stafficon 110 being selected on the main menu 106. List 122 has staff membersof the caregiver's unit arranged in alphabetical order from top tobottom. Letters of the alphabet are provided to the right of list 112with each letter serving as a selectable button to navigate to otherportions of the list 122 which are not able to be seen on screen 120 inFIG. 3.

Beneath each staff member's name on list 122 is the staff member's roleor title (e.g., CRNA, Unit Secretary, OB Tech, RN, just to give a few).If the caregivers appearing on list 122 are wearing badges 72 and aredetected by receivers 74 in a particular room or other location, suchlocation information is shown to the right of the staff member's name onlist 122. Also to the right of each caregiver's name on list 122 is acorresponding circle 115 that is color coded green or red, as discussedabove, depending upon whether the particular staff member is availableor unavailable, respectively. The darker circle 115 next to IvieAnderson's name indicates a red circle and the other circles 115 in FIG.3 are color coded green. Finally, star indicia 124 is provided to theright of any staff members on list 122 who have been designated as“favorites” by the caregiver of the associated mobile device 52.

Screen 120 includes a search field or box 126 in which a staff member'sname can be typed to search for that particular caregiver. By tapping inbox 126, a keyboard appears on screen 120 and is used to type thedesired name, or portion thereof, to be searched. Above search box 126is a “Back to 4 South” button 128 that is selectable to navigate back toa list of staff members assigned to 4 South. For example, NU4 may be asubset of all of the units assigned to 4 South such other nursing unitsof 4 South may include NU1, NU2, NU3, NU4, etc. Screen 120 furtherincludes a Unit icon 130 and a Filter icon 132. Selection of Unit icon130 by the caregiver on screen 120 results in a menu being shown of allunits of the associated healthcare facility that the caregiver canselect to obtain a list, similar to list 122, of staff members assignedto the selected Unit. Selection of Filter icon 132 by the caregiver onscreen 120 results in a menu being shown having an Availability filterand a Staff Title filter being shown as will be described below inconnection with FIGS. 4 and 5.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a first Filter screen 134 has an Availabilityfilter expanded in response to selection of an Availability menu optionicon 136 to show a menu of availability filter options icons that can beselected by the caregiver. The Availability filter options include anAll icon 138, Available icon 140, a Busy icon 142, and an Unavailableicon 144. In the illustrative example of FIG. 4, the All icon 138 hasbeen selected resulting in check marks 146 being shown in each button138, 140, 142, 144. In some embodiments, a caregiver or staff memberavailability status of busy results in the respective circle 115 forthat caregiver being color coded yellow. Assuming All icon 138 is notselected, then individual icons 140, 142, 144 can be selected or notselected at the option of the caregiver. Subsequent touches or taps oficons 138, 140, 142, 144 toggle the associated filter between active(e.g., on) and inactive (e.g., off) states.

If the All icon is selected on screen 134, then list 122 of screen 120of FIG. 3 will show all staff members of a selected unit regardless oftheir availability status. If only Available icon 140 is selected onscreen 134, then only available staff members will appear in list 122 ofscreen 120. If only Busy icon 142 is selected on screen 134, then onlybusy staff members will appear in list 122 of screen 120. If Unavailableicon 144 is selected on screen 134, then only unavailable staff memberswill appear in list 122 of screen 120. If combinations of two icons 140,142, 144 are selected on screen 134, then the staff members having theavailability status corresponding to the two selected icons 140, 142,144 will appear in list 122 of screen 120.

An up arrow indicia 148 is provided in the Availability menu option icon136 to indicate that a subsequent tap of icon 136 will collapse the menuof availability filter options. Thus, selection of icon 136 when indicia148 is present results in icons 138, 140, 142, 144 disappearing fromscreen 134 and then up arrow indicia 148 is replaced in icon 136 with adown arrow indicia similar to a down arrow indicia 150 shown in a StaffTitle menu option icon 152. Down arrow indicia 150 indicates that icon152 is selectable to expand the associated menu options of icon 152 (oricon 136 when down arrow 150 appears in icon 136). A Cancel button 154is provided at the top left side of screen 134 and is selected if thecaregiver does not wish to implement the filter selections that havebeen made on screen 134. An Apply button 156 is provided at the topright side of screen 134 and is selected if the caregiver wishes toproceed with applying or implementing the filter selections that havebeen made on screen 134.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a second Filter screen 158 has a Staff Titlefilter expanded in response to selection of the Staff Title menu optionicon 152 to show a menu of staff title filter option icons that canselected by the caregiver. Basically, each staff title filter optionicon relates to a particular staff title and due to the large number ofsuch icons in FIG. 5, these icons have not been identified withreference numerals but instead, the staff filtered by selection of eachicon of screen 158 is indicated by its associated staff name. In theillustrative example, the staff filter icons are named, from top tobottom, All, ANEST, Clergy, CMA, CN, CAN, HN, HUC, LPN, MD, MGR, NA,None, OB Tech, PCA, RN, Vol, Unit Sec and CRNA. These acronyms aregenerally known in the healthcare field. Other healthcare facilities mayhave staff titles that are different than those shown in connection withscreen 158 of FIG. 5. Also, the menu of staff title menu option iconsshown in FIG. 5 is larger than can be seen on the user interface screenof the associated mobile device. Thus, the caregiver will scroll up ordown on the mobile device display to see these various menu options.Selection and deselection of the menu option icons, with check marks 146appearing for selected options, is done in the same manner as describedabove in connection with FIG. 4. The same goes for the functionality ofbuttons 154, 156. Thus, the descriptions do not need to be repeated.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a My Team screen 160 is shown and is analternative screen that appears on a display screen of a mobile device52 in response to Staff icon 110 of main menu 106 being selected. Screen160 is similar to screen 120 of FIG. 4 and so only pertinent differenceswill be noted, otherwise like reference numbers are used to denote likefeatures and the descriptions will not be repeated. Screen 160 includesa My Team icon 162 and an adjacent My Unit icon 164. Icons 162, 164 arelocated above search field 126 in the illustrative example. The My Teamicon 162 is highlighted to indicate that a list 122′ of staff members onscreen 160 is the caregiver's team. In the illustrative embodiment, eachstaff member on the caregiver's team is automatically designated by thecaregiver mobile application as being one of the caregiver's “favorites”as indicated by the respective star 124 appearing to the right of eachteam member's name. Selection of My Unit icon 164 results in screen 160showing the list of staff members in the caregiver's unit in basicallythe same manner as shown in list 122 of screen 120 of FIG. 3. In someembodiments, main menu 106 is included at the bottom of screen 160.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a Staff Detail screen 166 appears on thedisplay screen of the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to astaff member name being selected on screen 120 of FIG. 3 or screen 160of FIG. 6. A top section of Staff Detail screen 166 includes informationabout the selected staff member. In the illustrative example, LouisArmstrong is the selected caregiver's name. The selected caregiver islocated in room 2188 and is available. The selected caregiver is an OBTech of nursing unit NU3 and has a mobile device extension of 5555. Abottom section of Staff Detail screen 166 shows a list 168 of patientsassigned to the selected staff member. For each line on list 168, apatient name is provided, the patient's assigned room is provided to theleft of the patient's name, and a right arrow 169 is provided to theright of the patient's name. Each right arrow 169 is selectable tonavigate to additional information about the respective patient.

Above the list 168 of assigned patients on screen 166 is a set ofcommunication icons that are selectable to communicate with the selectedstaff member or, in one instance other caregivers, via differentcommunication methods. In the illustrative example, the communicationicons include a Device icon 170, a Video icon 172, a Messages icon 174,and a Mobile icon 176. Device icon 170 is selected to place a calldirectly to the mobile device 52 of the selected caregiver (e.g., LouisArmstrong in the given example). Video icon 172 is selected to record avideo message to be sent to the selected caregiver. Messages icon 174 isselected to send a text message to the selected caregiver. Selection ofMobile icon 176 results in a telephone keypad being shown on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 for dialing any desired phone number.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an alternative Staff Detail screen 180 appearson the display screen of the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response toMe icon 114 of main menu 106 being selected. Screen 180 is analternative to screen 100 of FIG. 2. The upper section of screen 180 ofFIG. 8 is substantially the same as the upper section of screen 100 ofFIG. 2 in that it includes the caregiver's name, location and employeeidentification (ID) number. In the illustrative example of FIG. 8, theemployee's name is Darren Hudgins who is located in room 4116 and isavailable for answering voice calls, phone messages, and alerts asindicated by circle 115 being color coded green. Screen 180 includes alist of open alerts 182 and a list of accepted alerts 184 beneath theupper section.

In the illustrative example, there is one open alert 182 which states“Rounding due for this room” in connection with Room 1-B to whichpatient Jerry Judy is assigned. The illustrative open alert isdesignated as a Normal Priority alert and originated about one hour ago.A “swipe left for options” icon 186 is shown to the right of the text “1OPEN ALERT” and is used by the caregiver to pull up an options menu byswiping left on the icon 186 or by swiping left on the open alert 182itself. The options menu provides the caregiver with buttons foraccepting the open alert or escalating the open alert to anothercaregiver. In some embodiments, the options menu associated with icon186 also includes a button for accepting the alert and calling thepatient room (see the discussion below of FIG. 16 regarding the “Accept& Call” option). The rounding alert message is originated from one ormore of servers 86, 94, 98 according to this disclosure.

Still referring to FIG. 8, a heading at the top of the accepted calls184 indicates that there are eight accepted alerts. However, only fourof them can be seen on screen 180. Thus, the caregiver will need toscroll up or down on the display screen of the mobile device 52 to seethe other accepted calls. The accepted calls that can be seen in FIG. 8include calls indicating the following: “Patient is requesting painmedication,” “Normal,” “Patient is requesting ice chips,” and “HungerRequest.” All of these alert messages except for “Normal” originate inresponse to inputs by the patient, in this example Jerry Judy of room1-B, on the respective patient tablet 56. The alert messages originatedby the patient using tablet 56 are self-explanatory in this example. The“Normal” alert message may be initiated by the patient pressing ageneric nurse call button provided on a siderail of the respective bed54 or on the respective handheld pillow speaker unit 60, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a My Unit screen 188 appears on the displayscreen of the caregiver's mobile device 52 in some embodiments inresponse to Staff icon 110 of main menu 106 being selected. Screen 188is another alternative to screen 120 of FIG. 3 and screen 160 of FIG. 6.Thus, like reference numbers are used to indicate aspects of screen 188that are the same or substantially similar to those of screens 120, 160.Thus, like screen 120 of FIG. 3, screen 188 of FIG. 9 shows a list ofstaff assigned to the same unit as the caregiver. The primary differencebetween screen 188 of FIG. 9 and screens 120, 160 is the inclusion of aFavorites icon 189 which is selectable to have a list of staff membersthat the caregiver and/or the mobile caregiver application hasdesignated as “favorites” displayed on the display screen of therespective mobile device 52.

Referring now to FIG. 10, which is similar to FIG. 7, an alternativeStaff Detail screen 190 appears on the display screen of the caregiver'smobile device 52 in response to a staff member being selected on the MyUnit screen 188 of FIG. 9. In the illustrative example, Julia-Louise vanHoosen is the staff member that was selected on screen 188 of FIG. 9after the caregiver scrolled down to her name. Like screen 166 of FIG.7, the alternative Staff Detail screen 190 of FIG. 10 shows a list 168of patients assigned to the selected staff member and the set ofcommunication icons 170, 172, 174 (icon 176 is omitted from the screen190) that are selectable to communicate with the selected staff membervia different communication methods as described above. Screen 190 alsohas a text string stating “TSACampus<Joint & Spine<Joint & Spine Center3” which indicates further information about the unit to with theselected caregiver is assigned. In response to Device icon 170 beingselected on screen 190 of FIG. 10, a voice call is placed directly tothe mobile device 52 of the selected caregiver as shown by the Callscreen 192 of FIG. 11. This voice call is a secure voice call andinvolves only equipment included in system 50 such as VoIP switch andEnterprise server 84. The voice call from the caregiver to the selectedcaregiver is not routed through any equipment included in publicinfrastructure outside of system 50 of the healthcare facility. This isin contrast to any calls placed using the phone keypad associated withMobile icon 176 of screen 166 of FIG. 7 which places a regular phonecall over the public telephone infrastructure that is external to system50.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a My Patients List screen 194 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to the Patients icon 108 beingselected on main menu 106. Screen 194 includes a list 196 of patientsassigned to the caregiver. The room assignment for each patient is shownto the left of the patient's name in each row of list 196 and rightarrows 169 are shown to the right of the patient's name in each row toindicate that selection of the row, the icon 169, or the patient's nameresults in more information about the selected patient being displayedon the display screen of the mobile device 52. Screen 194 includes a MyPatients button 198 and an adjacent My Unit button 199 located abovelist 196. In the illustrative example, button 198 is highlighted toindicate that list 196 includes the name of the patients assigned to thecaregiver. In response to selection of button 199 all patients in thecaregiver's unit are included in list 196.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a Patient Details screen 200 appears on thedisplay screen of the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response toselection of the row, the icon 169, or the patient's name on list 196 ofscreen 194 of FIG. 12. The upper section of screen 200 includes thepatient's name, room assignment, room extension, medical records number(MRN) or other patient identification number, and the patient's unitinformation. In the illustrative example of FIG. 13, the patient's nameis Dorothy Goldenblatt having MRN M1. The patient is assigned to roomICU-1 which has an extension of 4101. The patient's unit information isshown as “TSACampus<Intensive Medicine<ICU.”

Beneath the patient information at the top section of screen 200 is aRoom icon 202 that is selectable by the caregiver to place a call to thepatient's assigned room. In response to icon 202 of screen 200 beingselected, a communications channel is opened within system 50 betweenthe caregiver's mobile device 52 and the respective audio station 62, 64in the patient's assigned room location. Thus, the extension number ofthe patient's room refers to the extension number associate with theaudio station 62, 64 of the room location to which the patient isassigned. The communications channel includes the equipment of system 50that is used to route voice packets between the mobile device 52 and theaudio station 62, 64. Thus, the equipment involved in such acommunication channel includes, for example, VoIP Switch and EnterpriseServer 84, PoE switch 76, and I/O Board 68. In response to Room icon 202being selected on screen 200 of FIG. 13, a Call screen 204 shown in FIG.14 appears on the display screen of the caregiver's mobile device.

Still referring to FIG. 13, screen 200 includes a list 206 of caregiversthat are assigned to the selected patient. In the illustrative example,Darren Hudgins is the primary caregiver assigned to the selected patientand Sebastian is the secondary caregiver assigned to the selectedpatient. To the right of each of the assigned caregiver's name in list206 are a phone icon 208, a message icon 210, and the caregiver's mobiledevice extension number. Selection of icon 208 results in a secure voicecall being placed to the mobile phone 52 of the respective caregiver andselection of icon 210 results in a screen appearing on the caregiver'smobile device 52 for sending a text message to the respective caregiver.Illustrative screen 200 includes a Call History window 212 beneath list206. In the given example, window 212 is blank. However, it should beunderstood that window 212 becomes populated with the various calls (akaalerts or alert messages) generated in system 50 in connection with theselected patient as they occur during the selected patient's stay in thehealthcare facility.

Referring now to FIG. 15, an example of a Home screen 214 of thecaregiver's mobile device 52 is provided. Home screen 214 has an icon ortile 216 in the in the lower right corner (but above a main menu bar 218at the bottom of the screen 214). The presence of tile 216 on screen 214indicates that the mobile software application described herein has beensuccessfully downloaded (or uploaded) to the caregiver's mobile device52. In the illustrative example, screen 214 of FIG. 15 has a window 220which displays information about an incoming alert message at the top ofthe screen 214. Thus, window 220 appears on the Home screen 214 of thecaregiver's mobile device 214 in those instances in which an incomingalert message for the caregiver has been generated within system 50 whenthe mobile caregiver application has not yet been opened on the mobiledevice 52 by selection of tile 216. In the illustrative example, window220 includes text indicating that a Normal alert originated from Room1-A. A date and time at which the alert message was generated is alsoshown in window 220.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a Call Details screen 222 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to the incoming alert messageshown of window 220 of FIG. 15 being selected by the caregiver. The CallDetails screen 222 includes a window 224 having further informationabout the incoming alert message. For example, the patient's name (LukeSkywalker in the given example) is included in window 224 along with thealert type, alert priority, delivery count and original delivery time.Beneath the alert information, window 224 includes an Accept icon 226,an Accept & Call icon 228, and an Escalate icon 230. In response toselection of icon 226, the caregiver accepts responsibility forresponding to the alert message and the alert message of window 224 isadded to the list of the caregiver's accepted alerts. In response toselection of icon 228, the caregiver accepts responsibility forresponding to the alert message, which is added to the list of thecaregiver's accepted alerts, and a voice call is placed to the audiostation 62, 64 of the room of the patient from which the alert messageoriginated. In response to selection of icon 230, the alert message isescalated to another caregiver such as the assigned secondary caregiverfor the patient.

Referring now to FIG. 17, a Patient Detail screen 232 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to a patient name beingselected on the Staff Detail screen 166 of FIG. 7. The Patient Detailscreen 232 includes an upper section having information indicating thepatient's name, the patient's location, date of birth, MRN, sex,assigned room, and medical risks. In the illustrative example, thepatient's name is Charlie Hunter (the first patient on list 168 in FIG.7) who is indicated as being located “OUT OF ROOM.” Also in theillustrative example, the patient has been indicated as having a FallsRisk, a Pulmonary Risk, and a Skin Risk. The patient also has a BMAT ofone and there have been 11 lifts of the patient in the preceding 24hours for the patient.

Beneath the patient information and medical risk information, screen 232includes a Get Help icon 234, a Set States icon 236, a Remind Me icon238, and a Call Patient icon 240. Selection of icon 234 results in amessage being sent to the master nurse station 78 to request one or moreadditional caregivers come to the caregiver's location and provideassistance. Selection of icon 238 results in a screen that permits thecaregiver to set up one or more reminders to be displayed on the displayscreen of the caregiver's mobile device 52 at a selected future time.Selection of icon 240 results in a voice call being placed to the audiostation 62, 64 in the patient's assigned room (Room 2156A in the givenexample of FIG. 17). Selection of icon 236 results in a screen that isdiscussed below in connection with FIG. 18.

Still referring to FIG. 17, screen 2323 has a bottom section including aCare Team button 242, a Pt. Notes button 244, and a History button 246.In the illustrative example, icon 242 has been selected and ishighlighted. In response to selection of icon 242, a Care Team list 248is shown in the bottom section of screen 232. Care Team list 248 liststhe team of caregivers assigned to the patient. Each row in list 248includes the staff members name, staff title beneath the name, thecurrent location of the caregiver as determined by the RTLS, circle icon115 with color coding to indicate availability status, message icon 210,and phone icon 208. The descriptions above of icons 115, 208, 210 isequally applicable to FIG. 17 and does not need to be repeated. In theillustrative example, icons 208, 210 for Cardiologist Brielle McKennaughare greyed out to indicate that voice calls and text messaging are notcurrently possible for that staff member.

Selection of icon 244 results in a patient notes window appearing in thebottom section of screen 232 for the caregiver to enter patient notes.Selection of icon 246 results in a call history window, similar towindow 212 of FIG. 13, appearing in the bottom section of screen 232.The call history window shows the previous calls (e.g., alert messageinformation) for the patient. In the illustrative example, the number“(2)” appears next to “History” within button 246 to indicate there aretwo previous calls that will appear in the call history window inresponse to button 246 being selected.

Referring now to FIG. 18, a Set States screen 250 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to the Set States icon 236being selected on the screen 232 of FIG. 17. The Set States screen 250includes a menu 252 of states that are selectable for the patient. Inthe illustrative example of FIG. 18, the following states are shown onmenu 252 from top to bottom: Out of Room, Falls Risk, NPO, No Latex,Sleeping, and Procedure in Progress. These states are self-explanatoryexcept for, perhaps, NPO which is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase“nil per os” which means nothing by mouth. Other states of menu 252,such as Pulmonary Risk and Skin Risk, can be viewed by scrolling up ordown in the menu 252. Each state includes a radio button 254 that isfilled in if the state is selected and that is empty if the state is notselected. In the illustrative example, radio buttons 254 in the Out ofRoom and Falls Risk rows of menu 252 have been selected and each of theothers have not.

Still referring to FIG. 18, in the Out of Room row of menu 252,information is provided to indicate that the Out of Room selection wasmade 15 minutes ago by Jessica Smith who is a different caregiver thanthe one viewing menu 252 on their mobile device 52. In the Falls Riskrow of menu 252, information is provided to indicate that the Falls Riskselection was made October 2, at 10:01 am by EMR Integration (e.g., theEMR system portion of overall system 50 including EMR server 94). Thus,it is contemplated by this disclosure patient states may be selectedusing various equipment of system 50 other than each individualcaregiver's mobile device 52. It is also contemplated by this disclosurethat each caregiver can select and de-select patient states on menu 252using their individual mobile devices. Subsequent taps of the statenames in each row of menu 252 or respective radio buttons 254 orgraphical icons at the right of each row in menu 252 result in selectionand de-selection of the respective patient states.

Referring now to FIG. 19, a Staff Member Detail screen 256 appears onthe caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of a staffmember's name on any screen having a list of staff members such as thescreens 120, 160, 188 of FIGS. 3, 6 and 9, respectively. The top sectionof screen 256 includes information about the selected caregiver such asthe selected caregiver's name, location, availability status, mobiledevice 52 extension, and employee ID. A Change icon 257 is also providedin the top section of screen 257 for selection by the caregiver toreturn back to the previous screen having a list of staff members fromwhich to select. Beneath the selected caregiver information, the StaffMember Detail screen 256 has an Active Calls button 258 and a Favoritesbutton 260. In the give example, button 258 is selected resulting in alist 262 of active calls for the selected staff member appearing on thedisplay screen of the caregiver's mobile device 52.

In the illustrative example of FIG. 19, the first row of list 262represents a new or incoming call. In particular, the call is a Fallalert message that originated three minutes ago and that has highpriority. In connection with the incoming call on screen 256, Acceptbutton 226 and Accept & Call button 228 are provided. The descriptionabove buttons 226, 228 in connection with FIG. 16 is equally applicableto these same buttons on screen 256 of FIG. 19. To the left of button228 on screen 256 is a Re-Route button 264. Button 264 is similar toEscalate button 230 but instead of escalating to the secondarycaregiver, selection of Re-Route button 264 allows the caregiver todesignate a particular caregiver, such as one who has not beendesignated as the secondary caregiver, to which the call is to bere-routed. At the bottom of list 262 is a call that has been re-routedto the caregiver by D. Whitman.

Referring now to FIG. 20, a Favorites screen 266 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to the Favorites icon 260 beingselected on the Staff Member Detail screen 256 of FIG. 19. The Favoritesscreen 266 includes a list 268 of favorite contacts for the selectedcaregiver. The features and functions of icons 115, 208, 210 appearingon screen 266 are the same as previously described herein. Screen 266includes a Reorder button 270 and a Delete button 272. Selection ofbutton 270 results in various options for reordering the staff names onlist 268 being presented on the display screen of the caregiver's mobiledevice 52. For example, the names may be sorted by unit, staff title,alphabetically, availability, and so forth. Selection of button 272permits the caregiver to select names on the list 268 for deletion fromthe list 268. Screen 266 also has a “+” icon 274 (aka an Add icon 274)which can be selected to add new staff members to the list 268.

Referring now to FIG. 21, an Add Favorites screen 276 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to the Add icon 274 beingselected on the Favorites screen 266 of FIG. 20. The Add Favoritesscreen 276 including a window 278 having a first button 280 which isselected if the caregiver wishes to add a favorite by typing a phonenumber and having a second button 282 which is selected if the caregiverwishes to add a favorite by picking a staff or location. A Cancel button284 is provided on screen 276 beneath the window 278 and is selected bythe caregiver if the caregiver no longer wishes to add a favorite tolist 268 of screen 266.

Referring now to FIG. 22, a New Favorites screen 286 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to the Type a Phone Number icon280 being selected on the Add Favorites screen 276 of FIG. 21. The NewFavorites screen 286 includes first and second fields 288, 290 fortyping a Name and Phone Number, respectively, of the staff member to beadded as a new favorite. An Add icon 292 is provided at the top right ofscreen 286 and is selected by the caregiver to add the staff memberdesignated in fields 288, 290 to the list 268 of favorites. Cancelbutton 284 is provided at the top left of screen 286 and is selected bythe caregiver if the if the caregiver no longer wishes to add a favoriteto list 268.

Referring now to FIG. 23, a first Change Availability screen 294 appearson the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of a downarrow icon 296 that appears on the screens 100, 180 of FIGS. 2 and 8,respectively. The first Change Availability screen 294 permits thecaregiver to select a Do Not Disturb time interval 298 during which nonew incoming alerts will be received and during which the caregiver willbe designated as unavailable. In the illustrative example, the timeinterval 298 can be selected by scrolling in 5 minute increments up to15 minutes at which point the increments increase by 15 minutes each. A“Begin Do Not Disturb” button 300 is provided on screen 294 and isselected by the caregiver to activate or initiate the Do Not Disturbtime interval. The Change availability screen 294 also has a Sign Outicon 302 that is selected by the caregiver to sign out at the end oftheir shift. After sign out, the caregiver is no longer available toreceive alert messages occurring within system 50. A Close icon 304 isprovided on screen 294 and is selected by the caregiver to close out ofscreen 294 and return to the previous screen.

Referring now to FIG. 24, a second Change Availability screen 306appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection ofthe down arrow icon 294 on the screens 100, 180 of FIGS. 2 and 8,respectively, if a Do Not Disturb time interval 298 has been previouslyset and is active. The second Change Availability screen 306 has an “EndDo Not Disturb” icon 308 that is selected by the caregiver to end the DoNot Disturb time interval 298. Icons 302, 304 appearing on screen 306have been described previously and the same description applies.

Referring now to FIG. 25, a Messages screen 310 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of the Messagesicon 112 of the main menu 106. The Message screen 310 has a list 312 ofmessage strings in which the caregiver has been involved in the past.Some message strings are group messages sent or received to multiplecaregivers and some are individual messages sent to individualcaregivers. The time of the most recent message in the string isindicated at the right side of each row in list 312. Screen 312 has aNew Voice Message icon 314 that the caregiver selects to send a voicemessage to one or more selected caregivers. Screen 312 also has a NewMessage icon 316 that the caregiver selects to send a text message toone or more selected caregivers.

Referring now to FIG. 26, a New Message screen 318 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to icon 316 being selected onthe Messages screen 310 of FIG. 25. The New Message screen has a “Taphere to search your unit” icon 320 in the To field. Screen 318 also has“+” icons 322 (aka Add icons 322) at the right side of each of the Tofields and About fields. A Cancel icon 323 is provided on screen 318 andis selected by the caregiver to return to the previous screen.

Referring now to FIG. 27, a first Search Results screen 324 appears onthe caregiver's mobile device 52 after selection of the Add icon 322 inthe To field of FIG. 26 and after the search string “Arm” has beenentered into the To field as a search string or search criteria. Thefirst Search Results screen 324 lists two caregivers that met the searchcriteria and also has a keyboard 326 at the bottom of the screen 324 fortyping a message.

Referring now to FIG. 28, a My Team screen 328, similar to screen 160 ofFIG. 6, appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response toselection of the “Tap here to search your unit” icon 320 on screen 318of FIG. 26. Icons 115, 126, 162, 164, 323 of screen 328 have beendescribed above and the same description is applicable to screen 328. Inthe illustrative example of FIG. 28, icon 162 is highlighted and so theMy Team screen 328 has a list 122″ of the caregiver's team members towhom messages can be sent. Selection of icon 164 results in a list ofstaff members in the caregiver's unit being displayed in list 122″rather than the team members. Selection of staff members names on list122″ results in the names being added to the To field of screen 318 ofFIG. 26.

Referring now to FIG. 29, a second Search Results screen 330 appears onthe caregiver's mobile device 52 after selection of the Add icon in theAbout field of FIG. 26 and after the search string “Mon” has beenentered into About field as a search criteria. The second Search Resultsscreen 330 lists one patient that met the search criteria and has thekeyboard at the bottom of the screen 330 for typing a message. In FIG.29, a “searching within your unit—tap the +for more” message 332 appearsbeneath the About field.

Referring now to FIG. 30, a My Patients screen 334 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of a Add icon 322on the screen 330 of FIG. 29 in the About field. Icons 198, 199, 323 ofscreen 334 have been described above and the same description isapplicable to screen 334. Icon 126′ is similar to icons 126 of FIGS. 3,6, 9 and 28 except that patients are searched in connection with icon126′ rather than staff members. In the illustrative example of FIG. 30,icon 198 is highlighted and so the My Patients screen 334 has a list ofthe patients assigned to the caregiver to whom messages can be sent.Selection of icon 199 on screen 334 results in a list of patients fromthe caregiver's unit being displayed rather than just the patientsassigned to the caregiver.

Referring now to FIG. 31, a Sent Message screen 336 shows an example ofa message 338 that has been sent by the caregiver using the caregiver'smobile device 52. A back arrow 339 appears at the top left of screen 336and is selected by the caregiver to return back to screen 310 of FIG. 25or to some other default screen. Referring to FIG. 32, a Message Stringscreen 340 shows an example of a message string 342 between thecaregiver and two other caregivers. The two other caregivers are LouisArmstrong and Hayes Alvis in the given example.

Referring now to FIG. 33, a Conversation Details screen 344 appears onthe caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to an information (“i”)icon 346 being selected on the screen 340 of FIG. 32. Screen 344 has afield 348 showing the subject of the conversation (Charlie Hunter ofroom 2156A in the given example) and showing a list 350 of participantsto the message string 342 of FIG. 32. Icon 339 also appears on screen344 and is selectable to return back to the screen 340 of FIG. 32.

Referring now to FIG. 34, a Care Team screen 352, similar to screen 232of FIG. 17, appears on a caregiver's phone 52 for a caregiver (JaniceMasterson in the given example) who does not have administrative rightsto set states for the respective patient. The same reference numbers areused in FIG. 34 for those portions of screen 352 that are the same as orsubstantially similar to like portions of screen 232 of FIG. 17 and thedescriptions above are equally applicable. In FIG. 34, icons 234, 236,238 are omitted because these functions are not available to particularstaff member. Also, a You indicia 354 appears in list 248 next to thecaregiver's name.

Referring now to FIG. 35, a Patient Notes screen 356 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of the Pt. Notesicon 244 on the screen 352 of FIG. 34. The Patient Notes screen 356 hasa window 358 in the bottom section beneath icons 242, 244, 246 thatcontains notes that have been entered by one or more caregivers aboutthe patient using their mobile devices 52 or other equipment (e.g.,nurse call computers, EMR computers, ADT computers) of system 50.

Referring now to FIG. 36, a History screen 360 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of the Historyicon 246 on screen 352 of FIG. 34 or screen 356 of FIG. 35. The Historyscreen 360 has a history window 362 in the bottom section beneath icons242, 244, 246 that contains a list of the patient's nurse callsincluding currently open nurse calls and older nurse calls that havebeen previously completed by caregivers.

Referring now to FIG. 37, an alternative My Unit screen 364, similar toFIG. 9, is shown with list 122 displaying a portion of staff assigned tothe same unit as the caregiver. Scrolling is needed on screen 364 to seeother staff of the unit. The same reference numbers are used in FIG. 37as were used in FIG. 9 and the descriptions above are equallyapplicable. Screen 364 includes an Other Units icon 366 which isselectable by the caregiver to navigate to staff lists for other unitsof the healthcare facility. For example, FIG. 38 shows an Other Unitsscreen 368 that appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52 in responseto selection of the Other Units icon 366 of screen 364 of FIG. 37. TheOther Units screen 368 has a list 370 of other units of first and secondhospital campuses (Crescent Green Memorial East and Crescent GreenMemorial West in the given example). Screen 368 also includes the Youindicia 354 to indicate the units to which the caregiver belongs.

Referring now to FIG. 39, a Non-Home Results screen 372 that appears onthe caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of a unit froma hospital campus different than the caregiver's campus on the OtherUnits screen 368 of FIG. 38. Screen 372 includes a “Go back to 4 West”button 374 that is selected by the caregiver to return to screen 364 ofFIG. 37. FIG. 40 shows a Tapped Search screen 376 that appears on thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of the “Tap tosearch” icon 126 at the top of the screens 364, 372 of FIG. 37 or FIG.39, respectively. The Tapped Search screen 376 has a list or menu 378 ofdifferent types of staff searches that can be undertaken by thecaregiver. The choices in menu 378 are self-explanatory in FIG. 40.Screen 376 also has a “What are you looking for?” field 380 in whichsearch strings are enterable by the caregiver. A Done icon 382 is alsoprovided at the top of screen 376 for selection by the caregiver toclose out of screen 376.

Referring now to FIG. 41, a first Search Results page 384 appears on thecaregiver's mobile device in response to a search string “Carol” beingentered in the “What are you looking for?” field 380 at the top of theTapped Search screen 376 of FIG. 40. The search results of screen 384include three staff members, no units, and no favorites. FIG. 42 shows asecond Search Results page 386 that appears on the caregiver's mobiledevice 52 in response to a search string “Onc” being entered in the“What are you looking for?” field 380 at the top of the Tapped Searchscreen 376 of FIG. 40. The search results of screen 386 include onestaff member, two units, and no favorites. FIG. 43 shows a third SearchResults page 388 that appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52 inresponse to a search string “4” being entered in the “What are youlooking for?” field 380 at the top of the Tapped Search screen 376 ofFIG. 40. The search results of screen 388 include one unit, 48locations, one favorite, and no staff. FIG. 44 shows a fourth SearchResults page 390 that appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52 inresponse to a search string “XYZ” being entered in the “What are youlooking for?” field 380 at the top of the Tapped Search screen 376 ofFIG. 40. There were no matches for the search string “XYZ” as indicatedon screen 390.

Referring now to FIG. 45, a screen shot of a Dial Pad screen 392 appearson the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of theMobile icon 176 of FIG. 7 and, in some embodiments, in response toselection of the phone icon 208 such as those shown in FIGS. 13, 17, 20,34 and 43, for example, if an extension to another mobile device 52 orto one of audio stations 62, 64, as the case may be, is nonexistent orotherwise not available for the associated staff member or patient. DialPad screen 392 has a telephone dial pad that is used to place a call toa phone number as is well-known.

Screen 392 includes a Recents icon 394 in the lower left corner of thescreen 392. FIG. 46 shows a Recent Phone Calls screen 396 that appearson the caregiver's mobile device 52 in response to selection of theRecents icon 394 on the Dial Pad screen 392 of FIG. 45. Two recent phonecalls are shown on screen 396 in the illustrative example. Icons 208 areprovided in each row of the list of recent calls and are selectable toplace a voice call to the respective phone number of the recent call.

The following provides additional information and also summarizesvarious aspects of the present disclosure:

Patient Details—The patient details screen is divided into two mainsections. The top section shows relatively static information about thepatient such as date of birth, risks, location, and the ability to callinto the patient's room. The bottom section is subdivided into threesections: (1) Care Team—Shows all other caregivers who are assigned tocare for this patient. Includes such details as their title (RN,Cardiologist, etc.), their location, and their availability; alsoincludes options to message or call the caregiver if possible; tappingthe message button will start a new conversation or look up an existingconversation between you and the selected caregiver with this patient asthe subject; (2) Patient Notes—Shows the recorded notes for thispatient; and (3) Nurse Call History—Shows a log of recent nurse calls,including the current state, the priority, how long ago it transpired,and who handled it.

Messages Tab—This tab contains everything to do with text messaging.List—The list of all conversations. From here you can also start a newconversation or check voicemail. Start New Conversation—A conversationcan contain multiple caregiver participants. It can optionally referencea specific patient or location. New Conversation, Typing Participant—Oneway to add participants is to start typing a name. Any matchingcaregivers in your assigned unit(s) will be displayed and can be addedwith a tap. New Conversation, Browsing Caregivers—Alternatively, you canuse the full staff browsing interface (the same as the Staff Tab) tofind caregivers. The entire care team or unit can be added with a singletap. New Conversation, Typing Subject—One way to add a subject is totype the name of the patient or location. Any matches will be displayedand can be added with a tap. New Conversation, BrowsingSubjects—Alternatively, you can use the full patient browsing interface(the same as the Patients Tab) to find a subject. Conversation withPicture—Pictures can be taken and displayed inline in a conversation.Multiparty Conversation—Each message is annotated with the sending partyand the read status of your latest message is indicated. ConversationDetails—You can see the subject, who is involved in this conversationand call them.

Staff Tab—This tab allows you to browse the staff members of any unitand also search for a specific caregiver, unit, or location. List—Thetab defaults to displaying your assigned unit. Throughout the Staff Tab,units to which you are assigned are indicated with the bookmark icon.You can see your team, which is all the caregivers on your unit whoshare patient assignments with you, your entire unit, and a list ofcommonly needed contacts for the unit (such as pharmacy, social workers,chaplain, dietary, etc.). From this screen, you can also access the dialpad, perform a search, and browse to other units. Other Units—Otherunits within the enterprise can be browsed. They are grouped by a commonancestor. Tapping a unit displays the staff on that unit. Units to whichyou are assigned are indicated. Non-home List—When you are viewing aunit that is not one of your assigned units, you can go back “home” toit with just a tap. Tapped Search—Tapping the search field invokes thesearch screen. Search is very powerful and you are presented with a listof search criteria as a hint. Search “Carol”—This is an example ofsearching for a caregiver by name. Matching staff are displayed alongwith their assignment, their current location, and their availability.Tapping the row will navigate to that staff's details. Search “Onc”—Thisis an example of searching for a unit. The list is always kept in aparticular order—Staff, Units, Locations, Favorites unless no resultsare found for that section. For a unit, its hierarchy in the enterpriseis shown. Tapping will navigate to the list of staff in that unit.Search “4”—This example shows results for units, locations (which can bepatient locations or ancillary locations), and favorites. No Results—Ifno results at all are found, the user is reminded of the searchcriteria. Dial Pad—There is an in-app dial pad so that an arbitrarynumber within the hospital may be called. Recents—This is a list ofrecent incoming and outgoing phone calls.

Me Tab—This tab displays information relevant to the currently logged inuser. The top portion shows static details as well as the ability tochange their availability. The bottom portion shows calls and favorites.Start—From here, the user can access settings and in-app help. They canalso change availability. The Active Calls tab displays this user's opennurse calls. New calls are displayed at the top with a new indicator.You can see the state of the call, the originating location and patient,the priority, and the elapsed time. If there are actions to be taken onthe call, a swipe to the left will reveal them, as in the second row.Favorites—A user can keep a list of favorite staff. They can bereordered and deleted at will. Add Favorite—There are currently twokinds of favorites: Arbitrary and Staff. Arbitrary favorites require theuser to enter a label and a phone number. Staff favorites require theuser to select a staff or location using the browse staff interface (thesame as the Staff Tab). This choice must be made first. New ArbitraryFavorite—The favorite can be given any label and phone number and theapp will attempt to dial the number as-is. Change Availability (DnDInactive)—Tapping “Change” on the Me Tab will reveal the abilities to goon Do Not Disturb (DnD) or Sign Out completely. When going on DnD, youare able to choose a duration. One minute before DnD ends, you willreceive a notification alerting you to the end of your DnD session. Thisnotification will give you the option to further extend it another 5minutes or let it elapse. Change Availability (DnD Active)—When DnD isactive, it can be terminated at any time.

A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) stack is used to provide securevoice, video, and text communication between device-to-devicecommunication of devices 52 and between devices 52 and other equipmentof system 50.

Referring now to FIG. 47, a block diagram 400 shows an embodiment inwhich mobile device 52 a of a first caregiver is equipped with receivedsignal strength indication (RSSI) software 402, as indicated by dottedarrow 404. Software 402 is Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Central softwarein the illustrative example. Staff members in the vicinity of mobiledevice 52 a have mobile phones 52 b-f that serve as BLE peripherals ofdevice 52 a. Based on the received signal strength of messages betweendevice 52 a and each of devices 52 b-f, an RSSI is determined by device52 a. In the illustrative example of FIG. 47, mobile devices 52 b-f arecarried by five different staff members as indicated by the text Staff1-5 in each block corresponding to devices 52 b-f. As also indicated inthe blocks corresponding to devices 52 b-f, a numerical RSSI value isprovided indicating, for example, the distance in feet between device 52a and each of devices 52 b-f. In the illustrative example of FIG. 47,device 52 b is 55 feet away from device 52 a, device 52 c is 50 feetaway from device 52 a, device 52 d is 60 feet away from device 52 a,device 52 e is 62 feet away from device 52 a, and device 52 f is 70 feetaway from device 52 a.

Software 402 is operable to provide a rank ordered listing 406 on thedisplay screen of device 52 a screen to indicate the relative locationsor distances of the five staff members, from closest to farthest, awayfrom the caregiver carrying device 52 a. In the illustrative example,Staff 2 is the closest to the caregiver carrying device 52, Staff 1 isthe second closest, Staff 3 is the third closest, Staff 4 is the fourthclosest, and Staff 5 is the farthest away from the caregiver carrying 52a. It should be understood that list 406 may include more or less thanfive staff members depending upon how many mobile devices 52 are withinthe reception range of device 52 a for purposes of determining the RSSIusing software 402. In some embodiments, the staff members shown on list406 are contacted by the caregiver carrying device 52 a in response totouching or otherwise selecting the Staff 1-5 text in list 406. TheStaff 1-5 text in FIG. 47 is used in place of the caregiver names forillustrative purposes. That is, this disclosure contemplates that list406 contains the names of the staff members whose mobile devices 52 arein reception range of device 52 a. Selection of one of the staff membernames in list 406 results in a voice call being made to the respectivemobile device 52 a-f, as the case may be, of the selected staff memberor results in a text message window appearing for sending a text messageto the mobile device 52 a-f of the selected staff member. In someembodiments, a window or screen may appear in response to selection of astaff member name on list 406 giving the caregiver carrying device 52 athe option to place a voice call or compose a text message.

In some embodiments, mobile devices 52 b-f advertise the availability ofthe associated staff member to device 52 a such that unavailable staffmembers do not appear on list 406. Messages to device 52 a from devices52 b-f regarding staff member availability include some identifying dataand a security token in some embodiments. It is contemplated by thisdisclosure, therefore, that the caregiver carrying device 52 a opens upsoftware 402 via an appropriate selection of an icon on the displayscreen of device 52 a when the caregiver wishes to contact another staffmember, such as for help with a patient, just to give one example.

In some embodiments, the caregiver carrying device 52 a is able tofilter the other staff members that are to appear on list 406 by role.For example, the caregiver carrying device 52 a may want to find outwhich housekeeping staff is in the vicinity or which nursing techniciansare in the vicinity, just to give a couple of examples. Thus, only thestaff members having the selected role or roles in those embodimentspermitting selection of more than one role, will appear on list 406 andstaff members not having the selected role(s) are omitted from list 406.The software 402 scans the advertisements from the mobile devices 52within reception range after the roles are selected. The software 402resolves the information from the advertisements into names of staffmembers and their roles. Then, software 402 operates to display on list406 the staff members meeting the search criteria (e.g., roles) based onthe RSSI as described above. The caregiver carrying device 52 a can thencall or text a selected staff member as also described above.

Referring now to FIG. 48, is a screen shot of another example of anAvailability screen 408, similar to screen 294 of FIG. 23 and screen 306of FIG. 24 discussed above. Screen 408 includes an Automatic radiobutton 410 that a caregiver uses to turn on and off, via sequentialselections of button 410, an Automatic availability function. When theAutomatic availability function is turned on, or active, radio button410 is filled in and the caregiver's availability status changesautomatically as the caregiver moves about the healthcare facility. Forexample, when the caregiver is in a patient room, the caregiver'savailability status is set to unavailable and when the caregiver leavesthe patient room and is in a public area of the healthcare facility,such as a hallway, the caregiver's availability is set to available. Insome embodiments, the Automatic availability function is turned on as adefault setting during the caregiver's shift. When the Automaticavailability function is turned off, radio button 410 is empty or notfilled in.

Screen 408 of FIG. 48 also has a Do Not Disturb radio button 412 that acaregiver uses to turn on and off, via sequential selections, a Do NotDisturb function. When the Do Not Disturb function is turned on, oractive, radio button 412 is filled in and the caregiver ceases toreceive alerts. The caregiver is also indicated as unavailable on otherdevices of the system 50 in response to the Do Not Disturb functionbeing active. In response to the Do Not Disturb function being turnedoff, radio button 412 is empty or not filled in and the caregiver is,once again, able to receive alerts. Screen 408 also has Sign Out icon302 which operates the same as described above in connection with FIGS.23 and 24. Thus, icon 302 is selected by the caregiver to sign out atthe end of their shift. After sign out, the caregiver is no longeravailable to receive alert messages occurring within system 50. An uparrow icon 414 is provided in the top region of screen 408 and isselected by the caregiver to close out of screen 408 and return to theprevious screen.

Referring now to FIG. 49, a block diagram of a caregiver and staffinformation system 50′, similar to system 50 of FIG. 1, is shown havinga network architecture according to an embodiment contemplated by thepresent disclosure. System 50′ is illustrative of the scenario in whicha healthcare facility has two different types of nurse call systems.Like system 50, system 50′ has caregivers with mobile devices such asphones 52 (only one mobile device 52 is shown in FIG. 49), a nurse callserver 86 and an ADT server 96. Nurse call server 86 is part of thefirst nurse call system of overall system 50′ and a second nurse callserver 416 is included in system 50′ as part of the second nurse callsystem. System 50′ is configured so that alerts arising in both thefirst and second nurse call systems are able to be sent to mobile phones52 for display using the caregiver and staff communication softwareapplication contemplated herein and described in connection with FIGS.1-48 and 50-59.

System 50′ includes a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server 418 thatreceives SIP Audio from mobile phones 52 as shown in FIG. 49. SIP server418 communicates with nurse call server 416 via a Private BranchExchange (PBX) bridge 420. However, no PBX bridge is needed in order forSIP server 418 to communicate with nurse call server 86. Thus, the firstand second nurse call systems are configured for different types ofvoice communications in system 50′. Alerts occurring within the firstnurse call system are communicated from nurse call server 86 to apublish/subscribe application which, in the illustrative embodiment, isstored on a publish/subscribe server 422 which, in turn, provides thealerts to a messaging service application or server 424 forcommunication to one or more phones 52. In some embodiments, thepublish/subscribe application or server 422 keeps track of which phones52 are to receive which alerts occurring in the first nurse call system.For example, the publish/subscribe application or server 422 includesinformation regarding the phone numbers of devices 52 of caregivers thatare assigned to the patient or room from which the alerts are beinggenerated.

Nurse call server 86 of system 50′ also sends alert data, configurationdata, and patients data for storage in a database 426 as indicated bythe arrows labeled Alerts, Configuration, and Patients that extend fromserver 86 to database 426 in FIG. 49. Database 426 is also in two-way orbidirectional communication with a people management capability server428. Mobile phones 52 are a further source of information for server 428and provide data regarding alerts, extensions, locations, and patientsto server 428.

Nurse call server 416 of the second nurse call system of overall system50′ sends alerts and staff assignment data to a clinical interfaceapplication or server 430. Clinical interface server 430 separates theincoming data from nurse call server 416 such that the alerts are sentto a configuration service application or server 432 and such that thestaff assignment data is sent to a patient/staff service application orserver 434. Server 434 is linked to database 426 to communicatepatient/staff assignment data to database 426.

Configuration service server 432 reformats and otherwise converts thealert data received from the clinical interface application 430 of thesecond nurse call system so as to be compatible with the format andprotocols required by the caregiver and staff communication softwareapplication contemplated herein and described in connection with FIGS.1-48 and 50-59. An Enterprise Configuration Tool (ECT) 436 is providedfor programming the manner in which the configuration service server 432reformats or converts the incoming alerts from clinical interface 430into the outgoing alerts. For example, the ECT 436 is used to alter theorganization and structure of the incoming alerts.

The ECT 436 also is used to reconfigure the location structure data fromthe second nurse call system to facilitate mapping into database 426 inthe same manner that location structure data is mapped from the firstnurse call system. In this regard, the ECT 436 has an import/exportcapability. The staff-to-patient assignment information is similarlymapped by the patient/staff service server 434 so as to match the mannerthat staff-to-patient assignment information is mapped in the firstnurse call system. The reconfigured location structure andstaff-to-patient assignment data is stored in database 426. The ECT 436is a software application that, in some embodiments, is executed byserver 432 and, in other embodiments, is executed on its own server orsome other server.

The reconfigured and/or reformatted alerts from the configurationservice server 432 are transmitted to the publish subscribe server 422which, in turn, provides the reconfigured and/or reformatted alerts fromthe second nurse call system to the messaging service server 424 justlike the alerts originating from the first nurse call server which donot need to be reconfigured or reformatted prior to receipt by thepublish subscribe server 422 or the messaging service server 424. Thealerts originating from both the first and second nurse call systems aretransmitted from the messaging service server 424 to the appropriatemobile devices 52 of caregivers assigned to the patient or rooms fromwhich the alerts were generated.

In the illustrative example of FIG. 49, a health level seven (HL7)admission/discharge/transfer (ADT) feed or server 438 communicates rawHL7 ADT data to nurse call server 86 and ADT server 96. The raw HL7 ADTdata, in some instances, also may be indicative of alert conditionsthat, in turn, are sent from nurse call server 86 to one or more mobiledevices 52 via servers 422, 424. The ADT server 96 extracts patient ADTdata from the raw HL7 ADT data and transmits it to an integrationservice server 440 which, in turn, transmits the patient ADT data topatient/staff service server 434. Server 434 subsequently transmits thepatient ADT data to database 426 for storage. The staff-to-patientassignment data and/or the staff-to-room assignment data and/or thestaff-to-patient-to-room assignment data from the second nurse callsystem is stored in database 426 and is used by other portions of system50′ so that the same assignment data does not need to be entered asecond time in some other portion of system 50′.

Referring now to FIG. 50, an example is given of a first My Availabilityscreen 442 that appears on the display screen of a caregiver's mobiledevice 52 in some embodiments contemplated herein. For example, screen442 appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52 after Do Not Disturbicon 412 of screen 408 of FIG. 48 is selected. Screen 442 has a line oftext 444 indicating that the caregiver has three minutes remaining of aDo Not Disturb status. A Do Not Disturb icon 446 appears above the lineof text 444 to further indicate that the caregiver has selected Do NotDisturb as their availability status. Screen 442 also includes agraphical End button 448 that the caregiver selects to end the Do NotDisturb status and a graphical +5 min. button 450 that the caregiverselects to extend the Do Not Disturb status by an additional fiveminutes. Beneath buttons 448, 450, screen 442 includes a menu 452having, from top to bottom, a My Profile icon 454 that the caregiverselects to navigate to their profile information, a Help Center icon 456that the caregiver selects to link to a help center, an About icon 458that a caregiver selects to obtain further information about patients,and a Log Out icon 460 that a caregiver selects to log out of thecaregiver and staff communication software application.

Referring now to FIG. 51, an example is given of a second MyAvailability screen 462 that appears on the display screen of thecaregiver's mobile device 52 in some embodiments contemplated herein.For example, screen 462 appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52after Automatic icon 410 of screen 408 of FIG. 48 is selected and afterthe caregiver enters a patient room. Screen 462 has a line of text 464indicating that the caregiver is Busy and in a patient room. A Busy icon466 appears to the left of the line of text 464 to further indicate thatthe caregiver's current status is Busy. Screen 462 also includes agraphical Begin Do Not Disturb button 468 that is located beneath theline of text 464 and icon 466 and that the caregiver selects to changetheir status to the Do Not Disturb status. Screen 462 also includes menu452 and icons 454, 456, 458, 460 and the description of these above isequally applicable.

Referring now to FIG. 52, an example is given of a third My Availabilityscreen 470 that appears on the display screen of the caregiver's mobiledevice 52 in some embodiments contemplated herein. For example, screen470 appears on the caregiver's mobile device 52 after Automatic icon 410of screen 408 of FIG. 48 is selected and after the caregiver enters apublic area of the healthcare facility, such as a hallway. Screen 470has a line of text 472 indicating that the caregiver is Available and anAvailable icon 474 appears to the left of the line of text 472 tofurther indicate that the caregiver's current status is Available. Likescreen 462, screen 470 also includes the graphical Begin Do Not Disturbbutton 468 that is located beneath the line of text 472 and icon 474 andthat the caregiver selects to change their status to the Do Not Disturbstatus. Screen 470 also includes menu 452 and icons 454, 456, 458, 460and the description of these above is equally applicable.

Icons 446, 466, 474 of respective screens 452, 462, 470 are color codedin some embodiments. For example, icon 446 is red, icon 466 is yellow,and icon 474 is green in one contemplated embodiment. In otherembodiments, a different color coding scheme may be used for each oficons 446, 466, 474.

According to the present disclosure, one or more desktop computersincluding computer devices such as primary staff console 78 (aka masternurse station computer), staff console 80, staff terminal 82, or acaregiver tablet computer (similar to patient tablets 56) of FIG. 1 alsohave the caregiver and staff communication software application loadedthereon such that the desktop computer(s) is/are able to engage insecure voice and text communications with mobile devices 52 of othercaregivers. Examples of the manner in which the caregiver and staffcommunication software application is used on a desktop computer areprovided in FIGS. 53-59 and are discussed below.

Referring now to FIG. 53, an example is given of a Past Conversationscreen 480 that appears on a desktop computer during use of thecaregiver and staff communication software communication applicationcontemplated herein. Screen 480 includes a My Messages window 482 on aleft side of screen 480 and a Conversation window 484 to the right ofwindow 482. Window 482 takes up roughly one third of the area of screen480 and window 484 takes up roughly two thirds of screen 480, notincluding a header area above windows 482, 484 and a footer area beneathwindows 482, 484. Window 482 includes a list of the past conversationsin which the caregiver using the desktop computer has participated.

In the header area of screen 480, a box 486 indicates the number of pastconversations appearing in window 482. In the illustrative example ofFIG. 53, box 486 indicates that there have been twelve pastconversations for the caregiver. However, window 482 only presentsinformation, in abbreviated form, for seven of the twelve pastconversations. Thus, window 482 includes a scroll bar 488 and a movablescroll icon 490 that can be selected and dragged along bar 488 to revealthe other past conversation information that is currently not displayedin window 482. A scroll arrow 492 is illustrated above scroll bar 488 inthe illustrative example and can be selected to scroll through the pastconversation information in window 482 as well. A similar scroll arrowappears beneath scroll bar 488 in appropriate circumstances.

The abbreviated past conversation information in window 482 is providedin blocks 484. Each block contains a date (e.g., 28 February for threeof blocks 494 of window 482 in the illustrative example) or a duration,in minutes, since the most recent entry of a past conversation orindicates “just now” if the conversation is ongoing currently. Aduration cutoff, such as 5 minutes, may delineate whether to indicatethe duration in minutes since the most recent entry or whether todesignate the conversation as “just now.” The abbreviated pastconversation information in blocks 494 also includes the name, or aportion of the name, of the caregiver that initiated the pastconversation; the name, or a portion of the name, of the patient towhich the past conversation pertains; the room number of the patient towhich the past conversation pertains; and the caregiver's most recententry, or a portion of the caregiver's most recent entry, in the pastconversation.

Window 482 lists the abbreviated past conversation information in blocks494 in order from most recent, at the top of window 482, to oldest, atthe bottom of window 482. Selection of one of blocks 494 by thecaregiver, such as by placing a cursor over the block 494 and clicking abutton of a mouse or on a keyboard or by touching the desired block 494,results in the selected past conversation being displayed in window 484of screen 480. A search box 496 appears in window 482 above blocks 494.The caregiver is able to select box 496 and then type a search stringinto box 496 to search for past conversations having the search stringtherein. Thus, use of search box 496 filters out past conversations notmeeting the search criteria and only those past conversations meetingthe search criteria appear in window 492.

Window 484 shows the messages between the various caregivers whoparticipated in the past conversation selected from the list in window482. The name and room number of the patient about which the selectedpast conversation pertained is shown at the top window 484. Beneath thepatient's name and room number, the names of the participants of theselected past conversation are shown. In the illustrative example, theappropriate one of the availability icons 446, 466, 474 for each pastmessage participant is shown to the left of the name of each participantof the past conversation. Icons 446, 466, 474 in window 484 indicate theparticipant's current availability status. Icons 446, 466, 474 werediscussed above in connection with FIGS. 50-52 and indicate the sameavailability status (unavailable or Do Not Disturb, Busy, or Available,as the case may be) on the desktop computer as they do on mobile devices52.

After a past conversation has been selected in window 482 for display inwindow 484, the caregiver using the desktop computer can post anothermessage in the conversation. A message box 498 appears at the bottom ofwindow 484 beneath the selected past conversation. The caregiver is ableto select box 498 and then type a message into box 498. After thecaregiver completes the desired message, the caregiver selects a posticon 500 to post the message in box 498 to the conversation. Posting themessage in this manner results in the message being sent to the mobiledevice of each of the participants of the past conversation appearing inwindow 484. Once posted to the conversation, the message in box 498disappears from box 498 and appears in window 484 beneath the previouslymost recent message in the conversation.

Just above box 498 at the bottom of window 484 are a set of icons, eachhaving a predetermined short word or phrase that can be selected toappear in box 498. In the illustrative example, these icons include a“Yes” icon 502, an “Ok” icon 504, a “No” icon 506, and an “On my way”icon 508. Thus, icons 502, 504, 506, 508 are common phrases thatcaregivers use during their shifts to communicate with one another. Byproviding icons 502, 504, 506, 508 in window 485, caregiver efficiencyis increased because they do not need to manually type these commonwords and phrases into box 498 each time they wish to use them. Afterthe caregiver is finished selecting one or more of icons 502, 504, 506,508 to cause the associated word or phrase to appear in box 498, thecaregiver selects post icon 500 as discussed above to post the messagein box 498 to the conversation appearing in window 484.

In the top right header area of screen 480, a connectivity icon 510 isprovided to indicate the connectivity status of the desktop computer tothe network (e.g., other devices) of system 50. For example, in someembodiments, icon 510 is colored green to indicate that the desktopcomputer is successfully communicating in system 50 and is colored redor amber to indicate a connectivity problem. In the bottom right footerarea of screen 480, a status board icon 512 is provided and isselectable by the caregiver to bring up a status board for display onthe desktop computer. Additional details of a status board can be foundin U.S. Pat. No. 8,779,924, particularly with reference to FIG. 3, andwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein for all that it teachesto the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure which shallcontrol as to any inconsistencies.

Referring now to FIG. 54, an example is given of a Create Conversationscreen 514 that appears on the desktop computer during use of thecaregiver and staff communication software communication application ifone of the past conversations is not being displayed in window 484.Screen 514 of FIG. 54 has many of the same fields, boxes, and icons asscreen 480 of FIG. 53 and so, like reference numbers are used and thedescription above of screen 480 is equally applicable to the likeportions of screen 514. A couple of the main differences between screen480 and screen 514 is that window 484 of screen 514 includes an Aboutbox 516 and a Participants box 518 at the top region of window 484. Box516 lists the name and room number of the patient about which theconversation being created by the caregiver is to pertain. Box 518 liststhe one or more caregivers who are selected for participation in theconversation being created.

As shown in FIG. 55, in response to a room number of a patient beingtyped into box 516, a drop down menu 520 appears in window 484 beneathbox 516. Menu 520 is a dynamic menu in that, as the caregiver types moredigits into box 516, only those room numbers and associated patientnames matching the partially typed room number are displayed in the menu520. Thus, when the first digit of the patient's room number, “2” in theillustrative example, is typed into box 516, all room numbers that beginwith the first digit are shown in menu 520. Then, when the second digitof the patient's room number, “1” in the illustrative example, is typedinto box 516, all room numbers that begin with the first two digits areshown in menu 520. As shown in FIG. 55, the third digit of the patient'sroom number, “5” in the illustrative example, has been typed into box518 and, therefore, menu 520 of FIG. 55 lists the patient room numbersand patient names of all of the rooms having the first three typeddigits, “215” in the illustrative example.

If desired, the caregiver can select the desired patient from the menu520 before the complete room number of the patient has been typed. Inthe illustrative example, menu 520 is of a certain size that, in manycases, does not permit all patient rooms that meet the partially typedroom number criteria from being viewable in the menu 520. Thus, a scrollbar 522, a scroll icon 524, a scroll up arrow icon 526, and a scrolldown arrow icon 528 are provided at the right of menu 520. The caregiverusing the desktop can select and drag icon 524 along bar 522 or canselect icons 526, 528 to scroll up and down, respectively, to view otherroom numbers meeting the search criteria. In FIG. 54, box 516 contains“2157—Miriam G. Smith” therein and so, in the illustrative example ofFIG. 55, it can be seen that the caregiver would need to scroll down toview the room 2157 information for subsequent selection. After a patientname and room number is selected from menu 520, the selection appears inbox 516 and menu 520 disappears from screen 514.

Box 516 of window 484 of screen 514 also includes a down arrow or searchicon 530 that the caregiver can select, if desired, to bring up a menu532 of rooms and patient names as shown, for example, in FIG. 56. Thus,selection of icon 530 to bring up menu 532 is an alternative way tosearch for a desired patient rather than typing a room number into box516. As shown in FIG. 56, menu 532 includes a My Patients tab 534, a MyUnit tab 536, and an All tab 538. In the given FIG. 56 example, the MyPatients tab 534 has been selected and so menu 532 lists the room numberand patient names for the patients that have been assigned to thecaregiver using the desktop computer. Selecting My Unit tab 536 resultsin menu 532 listing all room numbers and patient names for thecaregiver's unit and selecting the All tab 538 results in menu 532listing all patients in the healthcare facility (or at least all thepatients known in system 50 in connection with the caregiver and staffcommunication software application).

The right hand portion of menu 532 has scroll bar 522, scroll icon 524,scroll up arrow icon 526, and scroll down arrow icon 528 that operatethe same in connection with menu 532 as was discussed above inconnection with menu 520. Thus, the description is not repeated. Abovetabs 534, 536, 538 is a search box 540 in which a patient's name or roomnumber can be typed by the caregiver as an alternative searchmethodology. In some embodiments, menu 532 is dynamic and lists thepatients and room numbers meeting the search criteria of the partiallytyped information in box 540. After a patient name and room number isselected from menu 532, the selection appears in box 516 and menu 532disappears from screen 514. Alternatively, if the caregiver decides notto make a selection from menu 532, then a close icon 542 is selected toclose menu 532.

As shown in FIG. 57, in response to a participant's name being typedinto box 518, a drop down menu 544 appears in window 484 beneath box518. Menu 544 is a dynamic menu in that, as the caregiver types moreletters into box 518, only those participant names matching thepartially typed name are displayed in the menu 544. Thus, when the firstletter of the participant's name, “M” in the illustrative example, istyped into box 518, all participants that begin with the letter “M” areshown in menu 544. Then, when the second letter of the participant'sname, “i” in the illustrative example, is typed into box 518, all namesthat begin with the first two letters “Mi” are shown in menu 544.

If desired, the caregiver can select the desired participant name fromthe menu 544 before the complete name of the participant has been typed.In the illustrative example of FIG. 57, the number of names meeting thesearch criteria in box 518 is small enough to be displayed in menu 544without the need for any a scroll bar, a scroll icon, or scroll arrowicons. However, if more names meet the search criteria than there isroom to display in menu 544, then a scroll bar, icon, and arrows areprovided to the right of menu 544. After a participant's name isselected from menu 544, the selection appears in box 518 and menu 544disappears from screen 514.

To the right of box 518 of window 484 of screen 514 is a staff searchicon 546 that the caregiver can select, if desired, to bring up a menu548 of staff names for possible selection as participants in a newconversation as shown, for example, in FIG. 58. Thus, selection of icon546 to bring up menu 548 is an alternative way to search for one or moredesired conversation participants rather than typing a participant namein box 518. As shown in FIG. 58, menu 548 includes a My Team tab 550, aMy Unit tab 552, and an All tab 554. In the given FIG. 58 example, theMy Team tab 550 has been selected and so menu 548 lists the staff namesfor the staff that have been assigned to the same team as the caregiverusing the desktop computer. Selecting My Unit tab 552 results in menu548 listing the staff names for the caregiver's unit and selecting theAll tab 554 results in menu 548 listing all staff in the healthcarefacility (or at least all the staff known in system 50 in connectionwith the caregiver and staff communication software application).

The right hand portion of menu 548 has scroll bar 522, scroll icon 524,scroll up arrow icon 526, and scroll down arrow icon 528 that operatethe same in connection with menu 548 as was discussed above inconnection with menu 520. Thus, the description is not repeated. Abovetabs 550, 552, 554 is a search box 556 in which a staff name can betyped by the caregiver as an alternative search methodology. In someembodiments, menu 548 is dynamic and lists the staff names meeting thesearch criteria of the partially typed information in box 556. After astaff name is selected from menu 548, the selection appears in box 518and menu 548 disappears from screen 514. Alternatively, if the caregiverdecides not to make a selection from menu 548, then a close icon 558 isselected to close menu 532. To the left of each staff name in menu 548is the appropriate availability icon 446, 466, 474 for each staff memberbased on their current availability. Icons 446, 466, 474 were discussedabove in connection with FIGS. 50-52 and indicate the same availabilitystatus (unavailable or Do Not Disturb, Busy, or Available, as the casemay be) in menu 548 of the desktop computer as they do on mobile devices52.

As shown in FIGS. 54 and 58, window 484 of screen 514 includes an AddCare Team icon 460 that is selectable to add the caregiver's entire careteam as participants in the conversation being created. As shown in FIG.59, icon 460 has been selected and the staff names and respectiveavailability icons 446, 466, 474 of the entire care team appears in theParticipants text field at the top of window 484. In the FIG. 59example, there are more staff members on the caregiver's care team thancan fit into the allotted space of the Participants text field and so anexpand list icon 562 is provided at the end of the list of staff namesthat are able to fit into the Participants text field. Selection of icon562 by the caregiver results in a Care Team list 564 being shown inwindow 484 beneath the Participants text field. List 564 includes all ofthe names and respective availability status icons 446, 466, 474 of thecaregiver's Care Team.

After at least one participant is listed in box 518 of window 484 ofscreen 514, respectively, a Create Conversation icon 566 becomes activeas shown in FIGS. 54-56 and is selectable by the caregiver to begin aconversation with the one or more participants listed in box 518. FIGS.57 and 58 show icon 566 grayed out in an inactive state due to noparticipants being listed in box 518 of those two figures.Alternatively, if the caregiver using the desktop computer decides thatthey no longer wish to create a conversation, the caregiver selects aCancel icon 568 to abort the create conversation process. If any patientor staff information appears in boxes 516, 518 when icon 568 isselected, the information is deleted and boxes 516, 518 become empty.After the caregiver selects Create Conversation icon 566, then messagebox 498 and icons 500, 502, 504, 506, 508 appear at the bottom region ofwindow 484 as shown in FIG. 59 and are used by the caregiver to createmessages in the same manner as described above.

With regard to the availability status of the staff as discussed herein,the following functions are enabled or disabled as the case may be insome embodiments: 1) Available—The caregiver is logged in and canreceive phone calls and text messages on their mobile devices 52; 2)Busy—The caregiver is logged in, is located in a patient room, canreceive phone calls and text messages, but is not able to respond usingtheir mobile devices 52; 3) Do Not Disturb—The caregiver is logged in,marked as unavailable, can leave voice mail and send text messages, butnotification and response may not be immediate; and 4) Not Logged In—Thecaregiver can leave voice mail and send text messages, but responses andnotifications will not be received until the next log in for thecaregiver.

In some embodiments of system 50, the conversations between caregiversusing mobile devices 52 and/or the desktop computer having the caregiverand staff communication software application discussed herein are storedin EMR server 94 if a patient is designated in connection with theconversation. Thus, the EMR server 94 is periodically updated with theconversations pertaining to patients having EMR records in server 94such that the associated patient's records in server 94 each contain arecord of the caregiver conversations pertaining to that patient. Inother embodiments, the conversations between caregivers using mobiledevices 52 and/or the desktop computer are not stored in the EMR server94, or any server for that matter, but instead, are automaticallydeleted after a period of time or after ADT server 96 sends a message tomobile devices 52 and/or the desktop computer, or a server incommunication with these devices, that a particular patient has beendischarged from the healthcare facility.

Although certain illustrative embodiments have been described in detailabove, many embodiments, variations and modifications are possible thatare still within the scope and spirit of this disclosure as describedherein and as defined in the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising a plurality of mobiledevices carried by caregivers; at least one server for sending alertmessages to the plurality of mobile devices; and a plurality of patientdevices in a patient room, the plurality of patient devices beingconfigured to generate the alert messages in response to interactionswith a patient in the patient room, wherein the plurality of patientdevices comprise a patient bed, a pillow speaker unit, and a patienttablet.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a processor locatedat the patient room, the processor receiving the alert messages anddetermining for each alert message a message priority designation from afirst priority designation or a second priority designation, theprocessor forwarding each alert message along with its respectivemessage priority designation for receipt by the server which thenforwards the respective alert message and the respective prioritydesignation to at least one mobile device of a caregiver assigned to thepatient.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of mobiledevices are configured to permit the caregivers to accept responsibilityfor responding to respective alert messages or to re-route respectivealert messages to other caregivers.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein atleast one mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices stores andexecutes a machine readable medium, the machine readable medium beingnon-transitory and comprising a plurality of instructions that, inresponse to being executed, results in a mobile device of a caregiver:receiving at the mobile device multiple alerts relating to multiplepatients assigned to the caregiver; displaying on a display screen ofthe mobile device a first list of accepted alerts that the caregiver hasaccepted and that have not been escalated to another caregiver; anddisplaying on the display screen of the mobile device a second list ofescalated alerts that have been escalated to the caregiver from anothercaregiver.
 5. The system of claim 2, wherein at least one mobile deviceof the plurality of mobile devices stores and executes a machinereadable medium, the machine readable medium being non-transitory andcomprising a plurality of instructions that, in response to beingexecuted, results in a mobile device of a caregiver: receiving at themobile device multiple alerts relating to multiple patients assigned tothe caregiver; displaying on a display screen of the mobile device afirst list of accepted alerts that the caregiver has accepted and thathave not been escalated to another caregiver; and displaying on thedisplay screen of the mobile device a second list of escalated alertsthat have been escalated to the caregiver from another caregiver.
 6. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein at least one mobile device of the pluralityof mobile devices stores and executes a machine readable medium, themachine readable medium being non-transitory and comprising a pluralityof instructions that, in response to being executed, results in a mobiledevice of a caregiver: receiving at the mobile device multiple alertsrelating to multiple patients assigned to the caregiver; displaying on adisplay screen of the mobile device a first list of accepted alerts thatthe caregiver has accepted and that have not been escalated to anothercaregiver; and displaying on the display screen of the mobile device asecond list of escalated alerts that have been escalated to thecaregiver from another caregiver.
 7. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising a desktop computer having a display on which a PastConversation screen is displayed, the Past Conversation screen beingusable to view a past text message conversation between other caregiversabout a selected patient.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the PastConversation screen also displays a current availability status of eachof the caregivers involved in the past text message conversation.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a desktop computer having adisplay on which a Create Conversation screen is displayed, the CreateConversation screen being usable to start a text message conversationbetween a user of the desktop computer and one or more other caregiversabout a selected patient.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the CreateConversation screen permits selection of the patient about which thetext message conversation pertains by using a first drop down menulisting all patients admitted in the unit or by using a second drop downmenu that appears on the Create Conversation screen in response typing aportion of a patient name.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the CreateConversation screen permits selection of the one or more othercaregivers to participate in the text message conversation by using afirst drop down menu listing all caregivers on duty in the unit or byusing a second drop down menu that appears on the Create Conversationscreen in response typing a portion of a caregiver name.
 12. The systemof claim 9, wherein the Create Conversation screen includes an icon thatis selectable to designate all caregivers on duty in the unit asparticipants in the text message conversation.
 13. The system of claim9, wherein the Create Conversation screen displays an availabilitystatus of each of the caregivers involved in the text messageconversation.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of mobiledevices are configured to display on a display screen of respectivemobile devices a first icon indicating the caregiver's availabilitystatus for accepting more alert messages.
 15. The system of claim 14,wherein the plurality of mobile devices are further configured todisplay on the display screen of the respective mobile devices a secondicon that is selectable by the caregiver to change the availabilitystatus.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of mobiledevices are configured to display on the display screen of therespective mobile devices a menu of availability status choices inresponse to selection of the second icon.
 17. The system of claim 16,wherein the availability status choices include two or more of thefollowing: All, Available, Busy, or Unavailable.
 18. The system of claim1, wherein the plurality of mobile devices are configured to display ona display screen of respective mobile devices a first selectable iconthat, in response to being selected, results in the caregiver'savailability status being set to an automatic mode in which thecaregiver's availability is changed automatically as the caregiver movesthroughout the healthcare facility.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinthe plurality of mobile devices are configured to display on the displayscreen of the respective mobile devices a second selectable icon that,in response to being selected, results in the caregiver's availabilitybeing set to a do not disturb mode in which the caregiver isunavailable.
 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of mobiledevices are configured to display on a display screen of respectivemobile devices at least one screen that enables the caregiver to selecta numerical length of time during which no new incoming alert messageswill be received by the mobile device and during which the caregiverwill be designated as unavailable.